DCTMOAS Chapter 21 [Part 2]

After the reassignment of art scholarship students was settled, several seats in Class 7’s classroom were left vacant.

Yu Siting rearranged the seating and expanded the space at the back. He even gave the deputy class teacher a desk of his own. So Chu Cheng now had his own territory and was moved from beside Lu Yan to the back row.

And this October? Let’s just say—it’s the most restless time for students. Because around mid-month, every class starts preparing for the school’s annual sports festival. It’s the grandest event of the year at No. 10 High School.

And it’s not just students who participate. To foster a joyful, unified vibe among teachers and students, every teaching group has KPIs to hit—not only must they compete in sporting events, but they also have to put on a performance for the celebration night.

In the end, the school scores and ranks each office group. Officially, it’s to showcase the cultural and recreational spirit of the staff; but in simpler terms—it becomes everyone’s favorite workplace gossip for the rest of the year.

During the lunch break, the Chinese department teachers were chatting about the upcoming event, and a few from the English group were pulled in to join the banter.

The English teachers at No.10 High have always been known for their versatility, so it’s no surprise they’re hot commodities when it comes to events like this.

“I was wondering why no one from the English department showed up. So it turns out you’re all here forming some kind of dream team?” A loud voice broke into the gentle chatter of the young female teachers, followed by the uninvited arrival of several tall young men.

These were representatives sent over from the PE and Computer Science departments, joining forces to negotiate.

During the school sports meet, it’s tradition for departments to swap KPIs. As long as someone signs up under a name, the school leadership is more than happy to watch the chaos unfold.

“You talented folks—have you considered saving us from doom? When the PE team runs, we can wear shirts with your sponsorships on them. Chinese and English departments can all be included. How about writing ‘I love Chinese’ on the shirts?” said a PE colleague, even forming a heart over his chest with his hands.

Shen Nannan and another petite English teacher couldn’t stop laughing but replied bashfully, “Mr. Zhu, you’re too late.”

“How dare you,” said the energetic young PE teacher playfully, his tone casual as he was on friendly terms with his peers. “Who dares to steal my spot as singing competition champion?”

“Hey, kid, hands off our people. The science department already reserved the English talent. You guys think you stand a chance?”

Zhou Jin had just been passing by, but hearing the laughter from the office, he couldn’t help but peek in through the window to join the fun. He even threw a knowing glance at a male colleague, silently signaling that he had already been scouting from the shadows.

“Alright, alright, I’ll admit you were faster,” the PE teacher said after failing to persuade the English team, quickly setting his sights elsewhere. His eyes landed on another handsome colleague, and he rushed over eagerly. “Mr. Chu Cheng, right? A pleasure! One look at you and I can tell you’re hiding some real talent. How about representing our PE department with a performance?”

Chu Cheng was a newcomer and hadn’t experienced scenes like this before. He was caught off guard and didn’t know how to respond.

Teacher Yang raised a set of Chinese teaching materials and used the test papers to block the PE teacher’s eager gaze, saving her mentee. “Don’t try to sweet-talk my apprentice. No matter how talented he is, he belongs to the Chinese department.”

The Computer Science team, desperate for a performance to meet their KPI, began trying their luck as well: “Teacher Yang, your dual-brush calligraphy last year was absolutely brilliant—people are still talking about it even now. How about gracing us with another piece this year?”

Before long, the entire Chinese department had been invited one by one.

Everyone couldn’t help but joke, “Where did these bandits come from? Are you even teachers or some stand-up comedy troupe?”

One of the Computer Science teachers, desperate for help, expressed his helplessness, “I seriously can’t hold it together anymore. Every year we’re stuck performing martial arts with the PE department. Last year I got hit by a pair of nunchucks and was black-and-blue all over—and it didn’t even qualify for worker’s comp.”

“Hey, what are you saying? Don’t you feel guilty?” a PE teacher snapped back, unwilling to lose the verbal sparring. “You guys were the ones dragging us down—can’t even do a backflip!”

The Computer Science teacher shot back, “I’m going to go back and hack your photo albums, post them on the big screen at the school gate, and have them loop all day.”

The PE department’s energy went completely off the rails. One of them hollered, “That sounds amazing! Just make sure to add a ‘seeking marriage’ tag for me!”

“Hey, stop fighting,” another PE teacher said suddenly, as if something occurred to him. He poked his head out the door. “Isn’t that the Math department next door? Those old guys really know how to stay put, huh. Their performance ranks last every year, and with a prime location like that, they still don’t know to come out and recruit some backup.”

Zhou Jin was still leaning on the window, perfectly used to scenes like this by now. He joked, “Do we even need to talk about the math guys? Their whole thing is about being steady and majestic—immovable like a mountain.”

Everyone burst into laughter, each chiming in with their own take.

With teachers from all subjects gathered, the Chinese department office was lively the entire afternoon.

During the last period before dinner, Class 7 had a self-study session. Chu Cheng returned to the classroom to discuss matters related to the upcoming sports meet with Yu Siting.

“You don’t need to get too involved—just delegate and let them handle it themselves.” As the lead homeroom teacher, Yu Siting was always laid-back in his management style. While saying this, he was holding a paperback extracurricular book, reading with great interest.

Since becoming the assistant homeroom teacher, Chu Cheng had already noticed Class 7’s strong sense of discipline and self-management. So, he had no objections and temporarily turned the self-study period into a discussion session for the event.

The class’s former PE rep, Bai Xiaolong, had already transferred to the sports class, so his duties had naturally fallen to the other class committee members.

But the class officers proved even more capable than Chu Cheng had expected. Within just a few minutes, they had held a quick meeting and reached a consensus on their plans.

Class president Lu Yan was responsible for tallying sign-ups for the various events.

Academic rep Xu Wanwan was gauging classmates’ interest in performing and preparing the lineup for the evening gala.

Health and logistics officer Ji Yanan was in charge of ordering and purchasing hats, seat cushions, glow sticks, and other group supplies.

…

Ji Yanan had even confidently taken the podium. “I’ve projected the sample designs for our class T-shirts for the sports meet onto the screen. Each person can choose one or two options by number and write them down for me. We’ll go with the one with the most votes.”

“It’s gotta be #4—charging tiger design, full print.”

“Real men wear pink.”

“Black and red with white? That’s a fashion disaster.”

…

Since they didn’t have to wear their uniforms during the sports meet, everyone was especially enthusiastic.

While the students in the classroom were noisily debating, Chu Cheng stepped over to Yu Siting and quietly asked, “Mr. Yu, I heard your group always ranks dead last in the entertainment performance votes every year. Is that true?”

Yu Siting replied honestly, “True.”

The math department had always projected a clean, professional, elite image—so it was rare to see them with such an obvious weak spot.

Chu Cheng seized the opportunity to probe further: “What kind of performances do you do? How do you manage to score that low?”

Yu Siting closed his book, looked up, and replied without hesitation, “No idea. Never participated.”

“I figured.” Chu Cheng couldn’t picture what it’d be like for Mr. Yu to perform on stage. After muttering to himself for a moment, he asked again, “What about this year? Will it be different? You guys have some fresh blood now, after all, right?”

“Even if you’re new, just relying on yourself isn’t going to cut it,” Yu Siting shifted his position, casually draping one long leg over the other, which accentuated the elegant lines of his lean frame. He turned slightly and naturally leaned in to speak closely with the person beside him.

“They’re actually trying to get to you through me. After all, a certain teacher casually sang during his debut class, and among the fresh faces, you’re kind of a hot commodity.”

“Huh?” Chu Cheng was startled, not noticing how close the two had become during the conversation, and continued chatting, “Mr. Yu, you’re not seriously selling out your co-homeroom teacher, are you?”

Yu Siting chuckled. “I’m not stupid. I’ve got better things to do than hand you more work.”

Chu Cheng grew even more curious. “So how did you turn them down?”

Yu Siting’s voice dropped into a deep, mellow tone. He folded his arms and slightly bowed his head, looking completely at ease as if sharing a secret: “I told them I yell at rookies eight times a week. If it were you, would you still want to volunteer after hearing that?”

“Hahaha.” Chu Cheng laughed heartily, then added with a grin, “But you were telling the truth. I count every week.”

With that, he suddenly stepped away to check on the students’ progress with their project statistics.

Yu Siting, now left alone leaning against the doorway, scoffed with amusement, “Young people these days… so ungrateful.”

During evening study hall, Yu Siting took time to give the students a short math quiz and stayed in the classroom afterward to grade their papers.

Chu Cheng, sneaking in a bit of free time, returned to the office to handle his own work.

As dismissal neared, a few girls from the class gathered and came to find him in the Chinese office.

“What’s up?” Chu Cheng asked while copying out his lesson plans.

“Mr. Chu, we’ve finalized the program for the class night performance. We’re doing a classical dance together with the girls from Class 5,” Xu Wanwan reported.

Chu Cheng looked up at the bright, smiling girl. “The boss already said—you guys can decide on your own.”

“Um… well, we do have a slightly unreasonable request.” One of the girls in the back spoke up, carefully watching Mr. Chu’s expression.

Chu Cheng paused. “Don’t tell me… you want me to go on stage with you?”

The girls glanced at one another and smiled without denying it.

Given the performances retained from previous years at Tenth High, it wasn’t unusual for students to invite teachers to perform with them. So Chu Cheng figured out their motive right away.

He gave a helpless laugh, rubbing his soft hair. “Have mercy on me. I have zero coordination—if I go on stage, I’ll just mess up your whole routine.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the students quickly waved their hands. “Mr. Chu, we’ll teach you!”

“I absolutely have plans!” Chu Cheng mercilessly crushed the students’ hopes. “There’s no way I’m dancing. Even if you manage to convince the big guy, you won’t convince me.”

“Then what if it’s not dancing?” Xu Wanwan jumped in.

“Yeah! We just need you to make an appearance—win us a few popularity votes!”

“C’mon~ it’s all for the class’s honor!”

“Mr. Chu——”

Chu Cheng had just dodged bullets from both the Chinese and math departments. Now his very own students were swarming him with soft pleas, leaving him helpless.

The dismissal bell rang on time. Left with no escape, Chu Cheng finally gave in: “Alright then. If you can come up with a role for me that’s not too difficult and won’t feel out of place, I’ll reconsider.”

“It’s a deal!” The girls saw him compromise and didn’t push further. Waving goodbye—“Bye, Mr. Chu!”—they left the classroom to brainstorm.

Han Rui was the last to leave, her steps slow. She lingered by the door for a moment, then cautiously asked, “If the teacher were to play the piano or guzheng, would that be okay?”

“But how do you know I can play?” Chu Cheng smiled. “That’s not exactly a common skill to have.” His class rep had been distracted for days now. Since she was taking the initiative to talk today, he responded kindly.

Han Rui hesitated. “It’s written in one of Mr. Chu’s books.”

Chu Cheng froze.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Chu, I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy.” Han Rui quickly apologized, feeling she might have overstepped, then hurried to explain. “I actually bought that book a long time ago, and I’ve read it several times.”

Chu Cheng suddenly understood why the girl had been acting oddly lately. So that was it.

He smiled. “You like his books?”

At the mention of them, Han Rui visibly brightened. “Yes! Mr. Chu’s early works are so gentle and warm, full of emotional depth—especially when he writes about family. You can feel the love in every word. His later works are more grand and powerful, with themes that transcend time and even life and death.”

“I even studied his handwriting because of those handwritten letters in the book. That’s how I realized your handwriting isn’t just similar…”

Chu Cheng said, “Thank you for liking them. I’ll be sure to pass it on to him.”

Han Rui blushed and lowered her head.

Chu Cheng continued, “So, what piece are you all dancing to?”

“Huh?” The topic shifted too fast—she didn’t catch on right away.

Chu Cheng explained, “I haven’t played in ages. I’ll need to practice in advance.”

“You mean… you’re agreeing?” From Mr. Chu indirectly confirming his background to this moment—it all felt unreal to Han Rui.

“I told you, if you found me a suitable role, I’d be willing to participate,” Chu Cheng replied. Then, in a softer tone, he added, “But you mustn’t tell anyone about my connection to Mr. Chu.”

“Okay!” Han Rui nodded eagerly, her joy barely contained. “I’ll send you the music later!”

“Go on, then.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Chu!”

After watching his student leave, the smile on Chu Cheng’s face faded slightly. He returned to his desk and opened his e-library.

Let’s see what did the old man write about me in those books.

Didn’t apply myself during music lessons, mischievously cut the strings…? I don’t even remember that! And I used ancient family scores to make paper airplanes? Ended up getting my palms smacked and bawled my eyes out when Grandma punished me with the family rules.

Damn it, do you have to write everything?

At this moment, Mr. Chu was practically possessed by resentment, turning into his student’s biggest anti-fan without hesitation. He reflexively gave a negative comment.

Seriously, don’t I need to maintain some dignity in front of my students?