I Have Decided to Go Look for My Father

Teacher Chen and Gu Xi walked into the classroom right when the morning homeroom was over.

The classroom was very lively until the minute their class teacher walked in. They quieted down immediately.

Nevertheless, when they saw Gu Xi following behind her, the classroom became lively all over again.

“Look, look. Is that our new classmate?” said someone loudly.

Everybody looked over at Gu Xi when that person was done

“This new classmate of ours is quite pretty!”

“You sure this was the valedictorian that Teacher Chen mentioned yesterday?” They just could not associate this new classmate of theirs with the word “valedictorian”.

“Teacher Chen did not mention that we will be getting a school flower yesterday.” Someone retorted.

As everybody talked at the same time, Teacher Chen cleared her throat and said, “Quiet down. You guys are distracting those in the classrooms next to us!”

The classroom began quieting down after she had said that.

As such, Teacher Chen brought Gu Xi to the front of the podium and introduced her to the others, “This is Gu Xi. As I have mentioned, she will be transferring into our class… …”

Before Teacher Chen was even done talking, someone else shouted out again, “Oh my gosh. It IS her!”

Teacher Chen glared at the person who said that.

The person shrank their neck some and kept their mouth shut. Teacher Chen carried on, “She is new to our school and is not familiar with the environment. Do spend some time in helping her out, okay?”

What really was going through Teacher Chen’s mind right now was for her students that always had her worried sick to mingle with the valedictorian so they could bring up their scores somehow.

Having said that, Teacher Chen looked over at Gu Xi, pointed at a spot and said to her, “Why don’t you sit over there, Gu Xi?”

Gu Xi looked over in the direction that Teacher Chen had pointed at. There was an empty seat in the third row.

It looked to have been emptied out ahead of time.

Gu Xi nodded and walked over there under everyone’s watchful eyes.

On the podium, Teacher Chen mentioned a few more items before she turned and left, leaving the classroom to the teacher of the follow class.

***

Gu Xi, by now, had already sat down at her seat. Before she could even put her stuff down, her deskmate had already stuck her head over affectionately.

“So your name is Gu Xi? Which ‘Xi” is it? Is it ‘Xi’ as in the morning sun?” asked the girl.

“No.” Gu Xi smiled at the friendly inquiry. “It’s ‘Xi’ as in cherish.”

“Oh, I see.” The girl smiled and introduced herself as well. “My name is Dong Mingming. Ming like the plant.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Gu Xi.

“Hehe, same here.

“Don’t be nervous, okay? Our class is very harmonious. I will introduce you to everyone in between classes,” said Dong Mingming.

Gu Xi nodded, showing her appreciation – she felt that Classmate Dong Mingming was one overly friendly one.

“Oh yeah.” As though something had just occurred to her, Dong Mingming leaned into Gu Xi and asked, “Are you really a valedictorian?”

Gu Xi felt a little dazed from the question.

“Why do you ask?”

“Oh, you didn’t know. As it happened, Teacher Chen mentioned to us yesterday that we will be getting a new classmate and that we should pick up some tips in studying from you.

“If that’s what she said, that means our new classmate must be a valedictorian,” said Dong Mingming. When Teacher Chen announced this yesterday, she smiled like their class had, once again, became the top class among their grade.

“And then there is this spot. Teacher Chen freed it up yesterday.” Everything had already been arranged well before the new student had started.

That dawned on Gu Xi: No wonder she felt that the others’ reactions were a bit odd. And then there was this spot… … also seemed abrupt.

“So, are you really one of those that get top grades?” asked Dong Mingming again curiously.

“I do alright.” Gu Xi wasn’t being too overly humble either.

“Hehe, good. Then we can help each other out. It will be like joining forces with each other.”