DCTMOAS Chapter 77

After two days of intense grading, the monthly exam results were finally out. The freshly printed grade sheets—still warm from the press—were distributed right before the students’ lunch break.

Class 7, as always, maintained its status at the top. Lu Yan once again dominated the rankings with a perfect 700, a result so expected it barely caused a ripple.
What did surprise everyone, though, was the performance of the transfer student, Ying He.

Chinese: 119

Chemistry: 90

Geography: 85

English: 145

Math: 135

Physics: 92

Total: 666

While a 666 might only put him just outside the top 10 in Class 7, no one could ignore the fact that this guy had taken nearly a year off from school.
Which only went to show just how solid his academic foundation must be.

When someone rises in glory, someone else is bound to suffer a blow. The most dramatic part? Ying He actually surpassed his top academic rival since transferring schools—by a single point.

“Rock, paper, scissors.”

“Damn it, why do you always throw the same thing? Are you playing mind games with me?”

“Cut the crap and get your ear over here.”

“…”

During the lunch break, Lu Yan and Meng Xin were fooling around in the classroom. They were playing rock-paper-scissors, and the winner got to clamp a plastic clip onto the loser’s earlobe.

The game itself was childish beyond belief, but the two academic powerhouses who topped the entire grade were having a blast. Even a group of students averaging 670 on their exams gathered around to watch with great interest.

Mu Yiyang, however, was not in such high spirits. He didn’t join the game and seemed to be busy with something else, going in and out through the back door.

Usually, Lu Yan was annoyed to death by this guy’s sharp tongue, so now that he finally had the upper hand, he couldn’t resist getting a jab in: “What are you pacing around for? Can’t sleep during the break because you bombed the exam?”

“Annoying,” Mu Yiyang shot him a glare and didn’t bother to explain further.

“You really know how to hit a nerve,” Meng Xin gave Lu the class monitor a thumbs-up, and took the chance to try and clip another plastic pin onto Lu’s right ear.

“Hey! I clearly won that last round!” Lu Yan suddenly realized and dodged away.

Their horsing around got a little rowdy, and none of them noticed Teacher Chu coming in from the corner of the back door. The boys bumped right into him.

“Oops!” Chu Cheng didn’t have time to dodge. The coffee in his hand tipped badly, spilling all over the front of his dress shirt.

Immediately, the air was filled with the rich aroma of roasted coffee.

“I’m so sorry!”

“Teacher, quick, wipe it off!”

“Why is it always you guys causing trouble? And poor Teacher Chu’s always the victim.”

A group of students swarmed in, scrambling to help. Chu Cheng, already used to the chaos of hanging around such energetic kids every day, was no stranger to getting caught in their disasters.

He took the tissues offered by a student and wiped for a while. Seeing the stubborn coffee stains, he sighed. “Forget it. This probably won’t come out, even with a wash.”

Lu Yan rummaged through his desk cubby for a moment, then pulled out a spare school uniform and handed it over.

Chu Cheng noticed the row of colorful clips on Lu Yan’s ear and, both amused and curious, asked, “What are you guys playing? Doesn’t that hurt?”

His question caught the attention of a girl in the front row.

The girl turned to her troublemaker deskmate, Meng Xin, and stomped over with purpose. She grabbed his earlobe and scolded, “Meng Xin! So that’s where all my paper clips went! Can you stop messing with my stuff every day?!”

Meng Xin let out a pig-like squeal, “Ahh! I was wrong, I was wrong!” But the girl didn’t let go, hands on her hips as she demanded, “Where’s the other half?” Lu Yan quickly raised his hand and yanked them off, reddening his own earlobes in the process.

Chu Cheng could only shake his head with a helpless yet amused smile. He didn’t bother lecturing them, taking a Zen approach as he turned to go about his business.

As per tradition, the first Friday of September was the school’s opening ceremony. That entire day, teachers from the political education office were going around checking each class’s list of awards.

During the lunch period, Yu Siting wandered into the classroom twice, looking for his co-teacher. He asked the class rep who was still standing by the door, “Do you know where Teacher Chu went?”

Meng Xin, rubbing his sore ear, casually pointed, “Right there.”

Yu Siting squinted in the direction he pointed and finally spotted the man. Dressed in a school jacket, Chu Cheng was squatting in the aisle of the middle row, helping a student solve a problem—so thoroughly blended in with the students that he was almost invisible.

Seeing the young-looking co-homeroom teacher like that, Yu Siting couldn’t help but remark, “He’s so fresh-faced. No wonder I couldn’t spot him in that group of students.”

Chu Cheng looked up with a bright smile, his brows glowing like midsummer sunshine. He stood up and asked, “Were you looking for me?”

“Yeah,” Yu Siting said while handing him a handwritten list of award recipients. “Mr. Liu from the political education office asked me to tell you the approximate time and procedure for going on stage this afternoon. Make sure you don’t sit too far away.”

“I… I’m going on stage?” Chu Cheng froze, looking at the list in surprise. Sure enough, his name was right there under “Outstanding Teacher of the Year.”

It was his first time receiving such an honor as a new teacher. While he was excited, a trace of unease still lingered. Judging by the number of awards given, not even half of the Chinese department teachers made the cut.

But with such limited experience…

“Since it’s an annual award, it has nothing to do with how long you’ve been teaching. Don’t worry— the selection process is open and transparent. Any teacher whose students scored in the top five in average subject marks at the end of the term qualifies.” Yu Siting noticed the subtle shift in Chu Cheng’s expression and kindly offered an explanation. He even added with a smile, “Congratulations, Teacher Chu, on officially joining the ranks of outstanding educators.”

Hearing that from the big bro himself, Chu Cheng’s lips curved up slightly—but then he remembered the little accident from earlier, and his smile faded again. He sighed, “Ah~ but as a mature, outstanding teacher, I can’t go on stage wearing my top student’s school uniform, can I?”

“What happened?” Only now did Yu Siting notice the stain on his shirt. He frowned and suggested, “The ceremony’s in the afternoon. Why not go change during the lunch break? I’ll drive you.”

“No need.” Chu Cheng didn’t bring up the two boys who had been fooling around in the classroom. He simply reached out for the car keys. “Once the nap break ends, I still need to organize them to move the chairs down. We both can’t be gone. I’ll make it quick.”

Yu Siting took the keys from his pocket and handed them over, reminding him to drive safely.

The September weather was no longer blazing hot, but the sun was still bright and harsh on clear days.

Chu Cheng returned to Fantian Garden to change into a clean shirt, then hurried back to school. By the time he re-entered campus, the chair-moving and setup for each grade had already been completed.

The sky was clear and bright, the artificial green turf gleaming under the pure blue sky. It was a full-school assembly, a grand event. The once spacious sports field was now packed with students in uniform.

Chu Cheng made his way through the dense crowd to his class’s section. To avoid causing a disturbance, he quietly slipped into an empty seat at the very end of the row.

The chairs in the lineup were arranged in pairs. Sitting next to Chu Cheng was a particularly extroverted male student.

“Teacher Chu.” The student greeted him, eyes landing directly on the vice homeroom teacher, immediately noticing that something was different about him today.

Chu Cheng was wearing a semi-formal leisure suit he had just changed into. He and Yu Siting had bought it together while shopping during the Qixi Festival, but he’d never worn it until now—yet it was perfectly suited for today’s occasion.

The high-quality fabric and deep gray tone gave off a quiet elegance, and his tall, lean frame brought effortless charm to the simple and tasteful outfit.

The student’s eyes lit up. “Looking this sharp? How are the other teachers supposed to compete with you when you go on stage for your award?”

“You’ve got a way with words,” Chu Cheng chuckled. Just as he was about to say more, he suddenly felt the light dim slightly. A tall figure had appeared at his side.

Yu Siting was looking down at Chu Cheng’s new look with a scrutinizing gaze. In just half an hour, not only had this guy changed clothes—he seemed to be responding to being called “young” earlier with a very pointed counterattack.

“What a coincidence, Teacher Yu.” Chu Cheng, of course, noticed the intense gaze lingering on him.

With a casual flick, he swept his fringe aside, revealing a smooth, pale forehead. With his sharp brows, bright eyes, and strikingly handsome face, he was almost dazzling to look at.

Yu Siting patted the shoulder of a nearby student and made a subtle shooing gesture. He didn’t say a word, but the look in his eyes made his intention clear:

I want that seat. Go find another one.

“Got it!” The student obediently lifted himself up and scurried off, crouched over like a little cat—not wasting a single second.

Yu Siting smoothly took the seat beside Chu Cheng.

The tightly packed chairs made things a bit cramped for someone like Teacher Yu, who stood at 189 cm tall. With nowhere to comfortably place his long legs, he eventually settled on crossing them.

Perhaps it was just his natural bearing, but his posture stood out. His head tilted slightly toward Chu Cheng, while his back remained perfectly straight—turning even the simple act of sitting on a folding chair into something inexplicably refined.

The students of Class 7 were used to seeing the “big bro” and Teacher Chu joined at the hip, so no one found it strange.

But students from other classes attending the assembly saw the two of them as a scenic highlight.

One was warm and gentle, refined like an orchid; the other calm and steady, strikingly elegant. Sitting side by side, they resembled the moon shining next to a pine tree—an absolutely captivating sight.

“So this is what the top students of Class 7 get to look at every day?”

“Their Chinese teacher’s face is out of this world! I call unfair—this is a total misdistribution of educational resources!”

“If I were in Class 7, I’d be burning the midnight oil too, fighting for first place just to impress those two.”

As the opening ceremony officially began and the broadcast played, all the surrounding chatter gradually faded into the background.

“Big bro, even if you can’t help yourself, you should still be mindful of the impression you’re giving off.” Chu Cheng turned his head slightly to glance at the man stubbornly clinging to his side. Though he lowered his voice in mock reprimand, a satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “You being this clingy is a bit of a problem for me.”

Yu Siting kept his gaze fixed on the stage, ignoring the teasing tone that practically oozed smugness by his ear. In a low voice, he replied, “You’ll get used to it.”

After the ceremony ended, each grade level took turns carrying chairs back to the teaching building.

Next up for Class 7 was Chinese class. Chu Cheng gave the students five minutes to take care of whatever they needed, then resumed going over the monthly exam paper.

Perhaps the earlier awards had left them too excited—many were still struggling to get back into study mode. Even after nearly half a class period, there was still whispering going on.

Chu Cheng held the test paper as he walked down the aisle between desks, giving a mix of supervision and explanation while covering the poetry analysis section.

“So in the neck couplet, the poet conveys sincere friendship through his comfort and praise for his friend… Alright, hand it over.” He finished explaining one of the questions and stopped next to a female student’s desk.

Several students had been quietly passing something back and forth between the front and back rows since just now.

Chu Cheng had finally had enough. He freed one hand and lightly knocked his knuckles on the student’s desk, saying, “Don’t bother hiding it—I saw it ages ago. That pile of yellow stuff—what is it?”

The girl resisted for about half a minute before finally surrendering. She obediently pulled out a few hand-folded yellow paper roses from the cubby under her desk.

There had been an identical set of these handmade flowers sitting on Yu Siting’s office desk before—so this was where they came from. Turns out, they’d been confiscated from students.

But Chu Cheng didn’t stop there. He continued walking down the aisle, pausing next to each student who’d helped pass the items along earlier. As expected, every one of their desks had a few of the same roses stashed inside.

Zhou Tingting, Han Rui, Ji Yanan, Xu Wanwan… One by one, Chu Cheng collected their little creations. The number of paper roses in his arms went from one to five, then eight, then over a dozen…

As he looked at the intricate handiwork, part of him marveled at how skillful these girls were with their hands. But he still had to keep a stern face as he scolded them.
“Are you taking an art appreciation class right now? And I’m just background music mumbling on the side?”

In Class 7, it was usually the mischievous boys who disrupted lessons. It was rare for the girls to get caught red-handed. The boys in the back wasted no time seizing this golden opportunity to dish out some commentary.

“Wow, all this in just one class? How big a bouquet are you trying to make?”

“Hand-folded roses, huh? Come on, fess up—who’s the lucky guy you’re giving them to? Is he even worth it?”

“Valentine’s Day is already over! I’ll be watching closely to see who ends up with the bouquet. And if I’m not offered candy afterward, I’m raising hell.”

No matter how much the boys teased, the girls stayed united and tight-lipped. Not a single confession slipped through. In the end, it had to be Chu Cheng himself who stepped in to maintain order.

“All right, that’s enough out of you lot,” he said, shutting down the annoying loudmouths trying to embarrass the girls. “It’s clearly not for any of you anyway.”

He gently spun one of the paper roses in his palm, then, to ease the tension, added in a calm, even tone,
“Well, since no one’s admitting to anything, I’ll just take them as gifts for myself. If anyone wants them back, come to my office after class.”

And with that, the great Paper Rose Incident came to a close. Chu Cheng picked up the test paper and resumed the lesson.

The class bell rang.

Chu Cheng spread out his textbook and gathered the stack of confiscated paper roses, carrying them back to the office and casually stuffing them into the tote bag that had come with his morning coffee.

“Where’d you get so many yellow roses? They’re folded really well too. Teacher’s Day gift?” A colleague, getting ready to head to class, glanced over and asked with curiosity.

Chu Cheng slumped over his desk with a wry smile. “A student folded them during my class.”

The colleague chuckled and didn’t press further, picking up their materials and heading out.

Buzz—

His phone vibrated lightly on the desk. It was a WeChat call from Yu Siting.

Ever since they moved into the new teaching building and ended up on different floors, the two hadn’t been able to drop by each other’s offices as often, so they resorted to a kind of “long-distance relationship” via phone when things were quiet.

“Did you manage to eat while changing clothes at lunch?” Yu’s voice came through as the video call connected.

Chu Cheng, still lazily sprawled over the desk, replied, “Just had a bite.”

“Why do you sound so drained? Tired from sitting through the opening ceremony?”

“Talked too much. My throat hurts. Do you have any lozenges?”

“Nope. I’ll get some delivered to you.”

“I could use a coffee too. I didn’t get to drink the one I bought earlier—it spilled all over my clothes.”

They were chatting idly when someone knocked on the office door. Chu Cheng placed the phone face-down on the desk and looked up to respond, “Come in.” It was the class rep, Han Rui, coming to ask about the homework.

After picking up the worksheets, she didn’t leave with her usual light-hearted chatter. Instead, she lingered by the desk, looking like she was in trouble.

“What’s wrong?” Chu Cheng noticed something was off and asked gently.

“Mr. Chu, those paper roses were all mine. The others had nothing to do with it—they just helped me fold a few,” Han Rui admitted, head lowered.

Chu Cheng suddenly understood. Though he was genuinely moved by her courage in coming forward, he still maintained his principles and offered a stern reminder.

After the short lecture, he delivered the same message he had in class: “As I said earlier, these are considered a gift to me now. I won’t be giving them back—unless you can give me a valid reason that I’d accept.”

Han Rui pressed her lips together, remaining silent, her clear eyes tinged with a complicated emotion.

Chu Cheng’s mind suddenly flipped a switch. Recalling what his colleague had said earlier, he looked a little stunned and asked cautiously, “Wait… was it actually meant as a gift?”

“Mm…” the girl replied softly, barely audible. “It was, originally.”

Chu Cheng froze, caught off guard.

Seeing his confused and surprised reaction, Han Rui looked a little regretful and quickly shook her head. “Don’t misunderstand, sir. It’s really not like what the others are teasing about—I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble.”

She spoke quietly and carefully, explaining that the flowers weren’t an expression of infatuation, but rather a symbol of courage and passion. She thought roses, with their elegant and pure meaning, suited Mr. Chu very well. Plus, she’d heard yellow roses also represented friendship and blessings, and hand-folding them felt more heartfelt.

“Mr. Chu has always looked out for me. I know you treat all students equally, but I still felt cared for and trusted. So I wanted to give a little gift for Teacher’s Day to express my gratitude.”

“Actually, even before you joined our school, I enjoyed reading your books. After getting to know you, I was even more inspired to become someone like you. I think I’ll consider studying education in the future, because I really believe that every student deserves the luck of meeting a good teacher.”

Chu Cheng listened quietly as she finished. He could truly sense that Han Rui had grown more cheerful and open than when he first met her. He didn’t believe these changes were entirely thanks to him—but they were definitely a sign of her maturing.

“So the flowers really were for me,” Chu Cheng smiled and accepted them graciously. “Thank you.”

“But I don’t want to give them anymore,” Han Rui’s tone suddenly shifted. “When everyone was teasing me in class just now, I realized I hadn’t thought it through properly. I don’t want to cause you any unnecessary trouble.”

“Then let the ones you’ve already folded be the gift,” Chu Cheng said, “but don’t make any more.”

He smiled and told Han Rui not to carry any emotional burden over it. He admitted that he too had once liked a teacher—so he understood. That kind of affection wasn’t romantic love, but a deep sense of admiration and reverence.

It was a gratefulness toward someone more knowledgeable, someone who was willing to bend down gently and listen first, and then guide you—so that your future could stretch farther than their own.

Chu Cheng said, “Actually, I should be the one thanking you. For being brave enough to express it and letting me know that I once, even briefly, became someone’s guide. That’s the greatest meaning I’ve found in this job.”

Han Rui smiled with genuine relief and nodded earnestly.

The class bell rang twice—signaling the end of their heart-to-heart. After Han Rui left, the phone on the desk gave a soft hum.

Chu Cheng realized the call hadn’t been disconnected. He quickly picked it up and asked, “Were you eavesdropping again?”

Yu Siting didn’t answer the question. Instead, he replied sourly, “So, I hear you used to have a ‘crush’ on a teacher. What subject did he teach? Did you hand him flowers too?”

“Chinese,” Chu Cheng instantly caught on to his jealous tone and grinned like a little fox, gleefully dancing on the minefield. “Of course I gave him flowers. I aspired to be as excellent as he was.”

Yu Siting let out a vague scoff. “Then how come you didn’t grab the mic at the opening ceremony and thank him in your acceptance speech? Should I go with you to visit him for Teacher’s Day? Buy him a little gift?”

Chu Cheng chuckled, “Then we’d better pick carefully. He was already in his fifties when I was in elementary school. If we just grab something random, the old gentleman might not be able to use it.”

The darkened video screen lit up again. Yu Siting watched as Chu Cheng played with the paper roses on camera, his little thoughts written all over his face, and couldn’t help but feel his mood lighten.

He softened his voice and asked, “You got this happy over a bouquet of handmade paper flowers?”

“Teacher’s Day isn’t even here yet, and I’ve already received flowers.” Chu Cheng beamed, clearly pleased, then teasingly asked, feigning nonchalance, “Mr. Yu, don’t tell me you haven’t gotten any yet?”