Chapter 11 Rejection
He walked too hurriedly in the morning and ran all the way. When he sat down, Wang Luosheng realized something was wrong. There was a smell on his body. No, to be precise, it was his face that had a smell.
The pot of tea that Wang Luosheng poured onto the towel to wipe his face this morning had gone bad.
Wang Luosheng was so ashamed that he didn’t know where to put his face. What happened today? Everything was in order in the past.
Just at this moment, Wang Luosheng’s stomach growled again. He was in such a hurry in the morning that he didn’t even have breakfast.
On weekdays, Wang Luosheng always came before school after having breakfast, and he had never been hungry while studying.
Wang Luosheng found that everything was messed up today.
Normally, Su Wan would wake Wang Luosheng up on time, prepare water and a towel for him to wash his face, and then give him a pair of ironed, neatly-dressed clothes and clean shoes that had been washed last night.
After Wang Luosheng got dressed, he went to eat the breakfast that Su Wan had prepared early in the morning. It consisted of eggs, milk, noodles, steamed dumplings, custard buns, various soups, etc. While Wang Luosheng was eating, Su Wan neatly packed up the things Wang Luosheng would need for school.
After breakfast, Wang Luosheng could go to school neatly and refreshed.
Wang Luosheng has always believed that these are simple little things, and that it is Su Wan’s duty to do these things. In fact, most of the time, Wang Luosheng feels annoyed when he sees Su Wan doing these things.
Wang Luosheng didn’t like to get too close to Su Wan, but at these times, he had to have Su Wan by his side. Wang Luosheng thought that these were just Su Wan’s means of getting close to him.
Most of the time, when Su Wan did these things, Wang Luosheng would look at her coldly, fearing that his peaceful action would cause Su Wan to have impure thoughts.
The smell of stale tea on his face was too strong. He didn’t smell it before because Wang Luosheng was in such a hurry when he ran over that he couldn’t smell it at all.
At this time, Wang Luosheng sat down and could smell the rotten tea himself. One can imagine how strong this smell would be when it reached the noses of his colleagues around him.
Wang Luosheng was one of the few people who violated the rules. He ran out of the dormitory without attending morning reading, and fetched a bucket of water from the well behind the dormitory to wash himself. When he lowered his head to wash his face, Wang Luosheng saw yellow tea leaves on his head in the water. He lowered his head again and found that his shoes were covered with mud, not at all as clean and tidy as usual.
Wang Luosheng recalled that a long time ago, because his clothes and shoes were not clean and were often covered with dust, people in the school would sometimes laugh at him, saying that they could tell at a glance that his family ran a mill.
In recent years, no one has laughed at him anymore, because, except for young masters like Duan Jingtian who have maids and servants prepare everything for them, no one else is as clean and tidy as him. He is the only one who laughs at others in his heart, but others have no right to laugh at him.
Moreover, his academic performance has made great progress in the past two years. Although his family background is relatively ordinary compared with his colleagues, everyone respects him because he is the person in this school who is most likely to pass the imperial examination.
Wang Luosheng washed his face with water, tidied his hair, and wiped off the dirt on his shoes with a towel. Although it was not as clean as usual, it was barely presentable enough.
It doesn’t matter. As long as he continues to be the same as he has been in the past two years, everyone’s respect and admiration for him will not change.
Today was just an accident. What Su Wan did on weekdays were all trivial matters. From tomorrow on, as long as he paid a little attention, his life would be in order as before.
Wang Luosheng returned to the dormitory. His deskmate Zhang Dashi patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, “You got up late, didn’t you? I didn’t expect you would be late too.”
Wang Luosheng looked calm: “I was late today because of an emergency at home. It’s only today. I will never be late again in the future.”
Wang Luosheng didn’t like Zhang Dashi playing such jokes on him. In this school, he was always superior to others. Except for Duan Jingtian, the rich young man, others spoke to him with some respect. No one spoke to him as an equal.
Therefore, Wang Luosheng’s attitude towards Zhang Dashi who was joking with him was very cold. In Wang Luosheng’s view, there was no need for his deskmate to think that he was the same as him just because of a small mistake.
Wang Luosheng calmed himself down, took out his books, and prepared to start today’s homework. He reached into his book bag, but did not find the copy of Zuo Zhuan in its usual location. Wang Luosheng took out the book bag and opened it, but Zuo Zhuan was not inside.
Wang Luosheng searched his bag over and over again, but still couldn’t find it.
Oh, by the way, he read a book for a while when he went home yesterday. I wonder if I didn’t put the book in.
Oh no, today the whole morning class is Mr. Du’s “Zuo Zhuan”. Mr. Du hates it most when people forget to bring textbooks. If he knows someone didn’t bring a textbook, he will make them stand outside.
A wave of fear surged in Wang Luosheng’s heart. Was he going to become the person standing outside whom he looked down upon every day?
At this moment, Wang Luosheng’s deskmate Zhang Dashi said again: “Brother Wang, did you forget to bring your textbook?”
Wang Luosheng really hated Zhang Dashi. Wasn’t his mind on studying? Why was he always staring at him? Was he trying to make him look bad on purpose?
Wang Luosheng was furious. Zhang Dashi next to him said, “Brother Wang, you didn’t really forget to bring your textbook. The teacher will punish you by making you stand outside.”
Wang Luosheng finally couldn’t help it and blurted out in anger: “Why are you so annoying?”
At the same time, Zhang Dashi unexpectedly spoke at the same time as him, but what Zhang Dashi said was: “You can use my textbook.”
The two spoke at the same time.
Wang Luosheng and Zhang Dashi were both stunned.
Wang Luosheng didn’t expect that Zhang Dashi actually wanted to give him the textbook.
Zhang Dashi originally thought that it would be too embarrassing for Wang Luosheng to stand out since he was the first one, but he had stood there several times before and it didn’t matter this time, so he decided to give the textbook to Wang Luosheng.
Zhang Dashi didn’t expect that Wang Luosheng would treat him like this.
The air froze, and Zhang Dashi was the first to smile awkwardly: “Oh.” Although he was also angry, he still had some respect for Wang Luosheng who was the number one, so he would not get angry and fall out with Wang Luosheng, but he still felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.
Wang Luosheng realized that he had misunderstood Zhang Dashi’s meaning, but the words had already been spoken and it was impossible to take them back. He apologized to Zhang Dashi, but he could not do such a servile thing.
Wang Luosheng didn’t say anything. He took out a book called “Li” from his book bag and pretended to read it.
Zhang Dashi also pretended as if nothing had happened and started reading “Zuo Zhuan” in his hand.
When Mr. Du arrived, he started teaching. Halfway through, he asked a difficult question. Thinking that the question was too difficult and that other students would not be able to answer it except for Wang Luosheng and Li Sheng, Mr. Du first called on Wang Luosheng, the top student in the school, to answer.
