DCTMOAS Chapter 22
by SuxxiThe students who had just bumped into him saw Chu Cheng’s messy state and rushed to apologize:
“Sorry, Mr. Chu! Quick, get tissues—tissues!”
The meat-scented grease had already completely soaked into the fabric, and the more they tried to wipe it, the worse it got. After a flurry of students tried to help, they had no choice but to give up.
“It won’t come off…”
“We really didn’t mean to, sir. How about switching with me?”
“Does anyone have a spare jacket in their classroom?”
The minor incident in the front row drew some attention, with a few students sitting higher up in the stands standing up to take a look.
“Sit down, watch your step.”
Yu Siting noticed the disturbance in the group and immediately scolded them with a stern face. He then took a few steps forward, walked up to Chu Cheng, and saw the grease stain on his jacket. He turned back toward Lu Yan.
“Did you bring extra clothes?”
“I did.” Knowing there was no way to avoid getting rained on, Lu Yan had packed a school jacket to change into. He opened his bag and handed the jacket to Chu Cheng.
Yu Siting kept the class in order. “Don’t crowd around here. It’s not your business. Marching team members, check your personal belongings and head over there to get ready.”
The students followed his instructions and moved in groups toward the platform. Chu Cheng waited until most of the class had left before finally changing his clothes.
“Hey, hey, hey! He’s wearing the class uniform!” Though there weren’t many students left in the stands, one with sharp eyes immediately spotted the change.
“Ah! Quick, take a picture! I knew it—Mr. Chu is the number one fan-service king!” A girl in charge of watching over class items clapped her friend excitedly on the shoulder, urging her to hurry and take out her phone.
Yu Siting, drawn by the noise, looked over too.
Not to mention Chu Cheng’s remarkably recognizable face, just his tall and well-proportioned build already made him stand out.
His back line was straight and sexy, his waist cinched into an unbelievable narrowness by black jeans—almost like it couldn’t be encircled. The beautiful contour continued down to well-shaped hips wrapped in fabric, followed by two long, slender legs like chopsticks.
It was the same uniform everyone else was wearing, but on him, it was a whole different story.
Chu Cheng had been changing unwillingly, but upon noticing Yu Siting’s gaze, he straightened his back out of sheer pride, not wanting to lose in presence.
Wearing a “support shirt” from a certain homeroom teacher, he said with a straight face, “What are you staring at? Never seen a teacher blending in with students?”
Yu Siting stared at him putting on the school jacket, intentionally ignoring the man’s unique charm. “Never seen anyone this fresh-faced—put him in a group of students and you wouldn’t be able to pick him out.”
Chu Cheng formed the number “7” with the fingers of his left hand, then tapped it with his right to magically turn it into an “8.”
The meaning was clear: congratulations to Teacher Yu for achieving this week’s record of eight sarcastic remarks.
So childish.
Yu Siting gave him a complicated glance but said nothing more.
The formation performance lasted for a while, followed by the principal’s opening speech. Afterward, each class returned to their positions and raised their respective banners, officially marking the start of the sports meet.
[All athletes participating in the preliminary rounds of the boys’ 400 meters, girls’ 200 meters, and the 4×200 meter mixed relay, please proceed to the check-in area for preparation.]
The announcement echoed throughout the stadium. Students taking part in the morning track events began their warm-ups.
“Safety comes first, competition second, alright?” Chu Cheng got down from the stands and went around checking the number bibs on everyone’s back, giving careful reminders.
“Don’t worry, it’s just the prelims. We’ll make it through easily.” Class 7’s athletes did a few sets of stairs to warm up, full of confidence as they assured their assistant teacher, then ran off to the check-in area.
The opening event of the meet was the boys’ 400-meter sprint, for which Jiang Zhibo had volunteered himself. The distance—one lap around the track—was perfect for showing off, satisfying his flair for the dramatic.
And as it turned out, this overly confident kid wasn’t exaggerating at all. His physical fitness was clearly far superior to others in his grade.
Jiang Zhibo had drawn lane one. Right from the start, he took the lead. His youthful, energetic form sprinted forward in wide, powerful strides, running with such ease and control that no one could find an opening to catch up.
As he ran past Class 7’s section, he drew loud cheers from his classmates. Even after crossing the finish line, the guy didn’t stop—he ran straight back to his class’s seating area.
A volunteer at the finish line called after him, “Hey! Wait! We haven’t recorded the number for lane one yet!”
Jiang Zhibo gave his uniform a shake and called back brightly, “Class 7, Grade 11! Yu Siting’s little darling!”
The older guy nearby clearly frowned at that.
Where do all these attention-seeking clowns keep coming from?
After the sports student easily scored the first win, Class 7’s girls also secured spots in the finals for the 200-meter dash and the 4×200 mixed relay with excellent rankings.
“A complete slaughter,” was all the students in the stands could say to describe such an incredible start.
Perhaps to cool down the heated atmosphere, light rain began to fall from the sky.
Students popped open umbrellas and continued watching the events. The track now belonged to the senior year competitors. Even though no one from their own class was competing, everyone remained interested, making bets and guesses about the outcomes.
“One hundred hand-peeled sunflower seeds on the line. Each person picks two winning numbers—if neither wins, it’s a tie.”
Jiang Zhibo and Bai Xiaolong, who had just been basking in glory on the field, were now enthusiastically rallying their classmates under colorful umbrellas.
Chu Cheng saw the group squatting and laughing together and couldn’t help but walk over to join them.
One student had already lost four rounds and was “deep in debt,” yet refused to give up, determined to keep playing.
Jiang Zhibo pretended to get up and leave. “You owe me three hundred seeds already. If you don’t shell them now, I’m done playing.”
“Last round! If I lose again, I’ll shell seeds for you all afternoon! I don’t believe this.” His opponent, fired up like a true gambler, grabbed the sports kid’s sleeve and wouldn’t let go.
A new group of 400-meter runners were just lining up at the starting point right in front of Class 7’s “home turf.”
Jiang Zhibo gave in. “Fine, fine. I’ll let you pick first.”
“Number 06—he’s got solid muscles.”
“Number 20! Number 20! Isn’t he the one who just won first in the 200-meter?”
“I think it’s Number 11—tall with long legs.”
This kind of game was really thirty percent judgment, seventy percent luck. The students huddled together all threw in their opinions, but no one could agree on a consensus.
From a distance, the sound of drumbeats grew more intense—the race was about to begin.
The boy participating in the “betting game” made up his mind: “Then I’ll go with Number 6 and Number 20.”
Jiang Zhibo squinted to observe for a few seconds, then waved his hand coolly and said, “Number 4.”
As soon as he finished speaking—bang!—the starter pistol fired, and the Number 4 runner shot out like an arrow released from a bow. Not only that, but he kept accelerating. It wasn’t long before he left the second-place runner dozens of meters behind.
“Why?!”
Seeing the result all but decided, the student who had placed the bet clutched his head in despair. “Ahhh—small bets are entertainment, big bets destroy lives! Guys, I’m sold! I’m a sunflower seed-peeling slave now!”
Chu Cheng had been watching from the side for a while. Still not getting the trick, he asked curiously, “How do you always win? This doesn’t seem like luck.”
“I only found out this little-known fact during a training session the other day.”
Jiang Zhibo opened his palm and generously shared some peeled seeds, gazing toward the far side of the field as he explained slowly, “See them? Some athletes have an upside-down triangle on their athletic vest—that’s the mark of our school’s specially recruited track-and-field team. They’ve been training since the high school entrance exams. Every one of them is a beast. The weakest is still a nationally certified level-two athlete. Of course, the odds are in their favor. That guy just guessed blindly.”
The poor “sunflower seed slave” finally understood the truth. While peeling seeds, he cried out, “Jiang Zhibo, you have no shame! Hand me my anti-fraud app right now!”
“Ahh—he’s hitting me! Legs! Not the legs! These legs are for winning honors for Class 7! Bro! Help me!”
Just as the school inspection team walked by, the whole group burst into a joyful ruckus.
Chu Cheng didn’t try to stop this nearly tangible joy that filled the air.
With a smile on his face, he stood watching the fun, marveling at how much energy being around these kids gave him. In that moment, this job brought him a sense of fulfillment he had never expected.
The rain had left the ground slippery, so for safety reasons, the school temporarily rearranged the event schedule, postponing the more intense track and field competitions.
As a result, the afternoon’s arena was filled mostly with events like javelin, shot put, and high jump. Sometimes the competition fields were far from the stands, so students couldn’t even see what was going on. Bored, each class began to entertain themselves.
Yu Siting had been pulled away to attend a brief meeting with the inspection team. With the main homeroom teacher gone, Assistant Homeroom Teacher Chu took charge of keeping the atmosphere lively in front of the stands.
From a list of fun mini-games the students had come up with, he randomly selected one: “Let’s play a simple game called ‘I Have, You Don’t’, to feel the contrasts of the world.”
Unlike the impassioned tone of other classes, Chu Cheng’s voice was naturally pleasant, and when amplified through the microphone, it took on a relaxed, unhurried drawl.
Leaning back in his seat, he explained the rules with clear and steady diction: “It’s simple. Everyone holds up all ten fingers, and we’ll go in seating order. Each person says something they’ve done—ideally something unique to themselves. Anyone who hasn’t done it has to put down one finger. Once all ten fingers are down, you’re out.”
“It’s best not to say anything too overly personalized. Like what place you got in a specific exam in a specific year. Or what your mom made you for breakfast on some specific date… that would just be boring. Got it?”
Amid the chorus of “Got it!” came the expected disruption.
A student in the back shouted deliberately, “Don’t get it—unless Teacher Chu plays a demo round himself!”
Chu Cheng, fully aware of the student’s attention-seeking tactic, brought the mic close to his mouth. “That’s easy enough. I won’t bully you. I’ll just mention some basic adult activities.”
“For example: I’ve been to university, completed graduate school, passed the CET-4 and CET-6 English exams, obtained a National Computer Rank Certificate Level 2, Mandarin Proficiency Level 1-A, Advanced Business Chinese, a teaching license, and a driver’s license from the People’s Republic of China…”
His voice was lazy and calm as he listed off nine ordinary things that were, nonetheless, completely unrelated to high schoolers. He added jokingly, “This is totally unfair information asymmetry. What makes you think you’re on the same level as me?”
“HAHAHAHA!” Unrestrained laughter burst from the class.
The student who had called him out was dealt a heavy blow and clutched his chest, pretending to faint. The students around him rushed to massage his shoulders and back.
“Don’t chicken out, Mu Yiyang. I won’t let you go down like this.”
“He only said nine things. He left you one breath! Quick, strike back!”
Amid the egging on, the student named Mu Yiyang, fired up, grabbed the mic and stubbornly declared, “Teacher, I have a girlfriend.”
Instantly, the crowd erupted into gasps and whistles. The glow sticks originally meant to cheer on the athletes were now waving wildly for this bold young man.
Mu Yiyang added, “So, Teacher, are you sure you understand what being an adult really means?”
Too bold.
Chu Cheng smiled, just about ready to admit defeat, when a deep, low voice—dripping with dangerous undertones—cut in.
“Details,” Yu Siting leaned against the speaker with a tilted head, “I’d love to hear more.”
Everyone had been so focused on the game that no one noticed when the “big boss” returned.
Help! When did he get back?!
Mu Yiyang instantly went cold, panic making him stammer. “Boss, it’s not what you think…”
“Not what?” Yu Siting continued calmly, “Which class is she in? Go fetch her. Do that, and I’ll let this slide.”
Mu Yiyang scrambled to retract his words: “No no no, Boss, please! I was just joking around!”
The surrounding students, however, fanned the flames: “Don’t back down! Just go! It’s not even far.”
“Oh, next door?” Yu Siting latched onto the detail, his voice taking on an ominous tone. “Class 6 or Class 8?”
Mu Yiyang gritted his teeth and shot a warning glance at the snitching friend: “Shut up… he’s gonna kill me!”
And just like that, the crowd turned into oblivious bystanders—pretending to know nothing, coughing or falling silent as they staged a synchronized “I have no idea” act.
Yu Siting didn’t press the issue further. He stopped at just the right moment, leaving behind a perfectly measured sense of intimidation.
Taking the cue, Chu Cheng passed the microphone to Xu Wanwan beside him, giving her a subtle look.
“According to the game rules, bluffing doesn’t count, okay?” The class rep, who was clearly emotionally intelligent, immediately picked up where he left off and smoothly continued organizing the game, successfully diverting the attention away.
With the little interruption over, the students became cheerful again. Chu Cheng quietly slipped away and walked over to Yu Siting under the canopy.
“You even managed to surprise me during a small class activity?” Yu Siting tilted his head to look at him.
Chu Cheng smiled. “Does this count as accidentally stepping into a new side quest?”
“Mm. Especially since even under interrogation it’s hard to get this kind of info. I quite admire your talent for these unexpected detours.”
Yu Siting grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the table, twisted it open, and took a couple sips before continuing, “Back during the parent-teacher meeting, Mu Yiyang’s father pulled me aside and talked for a while. He suspects his son is dating again.”
“Again?” Chu Cheng caught that word and furrowed his brows.
Yu Siting nodded. “He’s a repeat offender. He was already into all that ‘emotionally scarred, heart locked away’ drama back in junior high. Then in the first year of high school, he got suspended for the same issue.”
“If you say he’s a playboy, he’s actually not. This kid is deeply invested every time. And every time he falls in love, his academic performance tanks. He’s a textbook case of being bad at both love and school.”
Yu Siting’s tone carried a trace of bewilderment, as if even he couldn’t figure out what strange things these kids were thinking.
“So what do we do?” Chu Cheng muttered, “If it’s this serious, and the parents are asking for intervention, it wouldn’t look good for the school to keep delaying action.”
Yu Siting, however, didn’t seem worried at all. He still had the leisure to tease his assistant class teacher. “Weren’t you just roasted for not having a girlfriend? Want me to give you a chance to strike back?”
“Mr. Yu,” Chu Cheng rarely responded to his harsh teasing, but this time he gave a helpless reply, “No matter how inexperienced or disillusioned I might be, please believe that I still have the basic sense of responsibility and mission required of a teacher.”
“I know,” Yu Siting chuckled, then looked off toward the students horsing around in the distance. “But this kid’s going to be a problem sooner or later.”
“So what do you need me to do?” Chu Cheng waited for instructions from the head teacher.
Yu Siting leaned down slightly and crooked a finger.
Mr. Chu leaned in obediently, and after hearing the other’s low and quiet words, his eyes suddenly widened in disbelief, completely stunned.
“What?
You actually came up with something that ruthless? You’re really something else!”
Yu Siting straightened up and resumed his upright posture, still speaking with casual indifference:
“When the time comes, he’ll come crying to you. Just play your role as the gentle mentor and comfort him a little. I’ll be the bad guy.”
Chu Cheng remained frozen in that position, not reacting for a long while. He was quietly taking in the crisp, clean scent of rain lingering around the man beside him.
But what he was really thinking was:
Yu Siting… is really not someone you want to mess with.
Author’s Note:
Mr. Chu: At that moment, I think I finally understood what “tactics” really meant in the big guy’s world.
Yu Siting: Don’t go around telling people I taught you that.