Maintaining the Dignity of the Female Supporting Character

Chapter 9

The third morning class was Mathematics.

Several boys in the class had just returned from playing basketball, still a bit restless as they occasionally shifted their chairs and fanned their collars.

Zhou Quan had his back turned, writing on the blackboard.

Lu Jing pushed on Wang Chengshuo's chair back, rocking it: "Got any water left? Let me have some."

"Yeah."

Wang Chengshuo took his cup to pour some water. The liquid had barely reached the quarter mark when suddenly there was a loud "thump" from behind.

"?"

Wang Chengshuo slowly turned his head to look back.

Wen Shuangmu at the neighboring desk also turned his head slowly to look.

They saw Lu Jing with his forehead pressed sideways against the desk, his eyelashes lightly closed.

Just from the sound, they could tell it was quite a heavy impact, but the main character seemed unaffected by any pain, breathing steadily, sleeping with a peaceful expression.

Wang Chengshuo: "..."

Wen Shuangmu: "..."

What the hell, wasn't he just talking normally a second ago? How could he fall asleep so suddenly!

Wang Chengshuo stood holding the water cup, unsure whether to continue pouring or put it back.

Zhou Quan at the podium spoke up first in a calm voice: "It's hot in the summer, and I understand everyone feels drowsy. I won't say much, but if any student really can't stay awake, please go stand in the back for a while, and return to your seat when you're alert again."

The class's gazes uniformly followed Zhou Quan's words towards the last desk in the classroom.

The person in question, however, remained motionless as if he had fainted.

Zhou Quan said: "Seatmate, please help wake him up."

Wen Shuangmu's finger tentatively reached across the aisle, first hovering above Lu Jing's head, then near his elbow, really unsure where to land. He could only look towards Wang Chengshuo diagonally across, who was more familiar with Lu Jing: "Why don't you do it?"

Wang Chengshuo didn't hesitate, directly pushing Lu Jing: "Stop sleeping, get up. You're being punished to stand."

Lu Jing stayed still for a second before waking up. He slowly raised his head, rubbing his forehead. His eyelids lifted slightly, instantly noticing the entire class's unified stares. After a brief moment of blank-faced confusion, his expression became somewhat peculiar.

Wang Chengshuo gestured with his chin towards Zhou Quan at the podium, kindly repeating: "He says to take your book and stand in the back. Come back to sit when you're awake."

Wu Xiaoqi had already started a cheerful betting game in Wen Shuangmu's mind.

"Quiz with prizes! Correct answer gets the host a random small reward.

Question: Which of the following actions will Lu Jing use to respond to the teacher's challenge?

A. Illiterate school bully type: Teacher, I don't know many words, math class always makes me sleepy. Let me off this once?

B. Arrogant young master type: Teacher, don't you know how many buildings my family donated to the school? You're not serious about making me stand as punishment, right?

C. Academic genius type: Teacher, the content you're teaching is too simple. I might know even more than you do.

D. Cool guy type: I'm already awake now. Can I just sit back down?"

Wen Shuangmu: "Are there only such childish options?"

Wu Xiaoqi: "These are the most common male lead responses in school stories!"

Wu Xiaoqi probably also felt the options weren't comprehensive enough, so he added: "Okay, let's add one more. E. I'm not the male lead · None of the above options type."

Wen Shuangmu counted the characters, with option E winning by a very slim margin.

He said: "E."

Choose the shortest of four long and one short, choose the longest of four short and one long.

Wu Xiaoqi: "Haha, the host is going to miss out on a reward. How could the handsome guys in school stories ever take the ordinary path?"

Hearing Wu Xiaoqi's confidence, Wen Shuangmu glanced at Lu Jing calmly standing up, and couldn't help but waver a little, considering whether to change his answer to C.

Wu Xiaoqi was still gloating when Lu Jing pulled out his chair to stand in the aisle, picked up his math book, said "Sorry, teacher" to Zhou Quan, and quietly walked to the back of the classroom for his punishment.

Wu Xiaoqi, whose face was slapped in less than a second: "... That's it? Really???"

Lu Jing placed his textbook on the storage cabinet against the wall at the back of the classroom and stood still.

The teacher at the front continued the lesson. He rubbed his slightly swollen forehead.

Glancing casually, he saw his genius seatmate hunched over at his desk, shoulders shaking. Lu Jing pressed gently on the bruise again, took a step to the side to widen his view, and saw his genius seatmate struggling to hold back a smile.

Lu Jing: "..."

Lu Jing obediently stood at the back for the whole class. When the bell rang, Zhou Quan kept them for two extra minutes, asking Wen Shuangmu to be the temporary class monitor and go with him to the office to fetch assignments.

Classmates dispersed to use the restroom or get water from the drinking fountain.

Wang Chengshuo turned to Lu Jing, who had returned with his textbook: "What's going on? What time have you been sleeping these past couple days? So sleep-deprived. You seemed fine when we played basketball this morning."

Lu Jing pulled out his chair and sat down, flexing his slightly sore ankles: "This time it really wasn't because I was sleepy."

"Then what?"

Lu Jing opened his mouth but no sound came out.

He froze for two seconds, then changed his answer: "Never mind, I was sleepy."

Wang Chengshuo watched Lu Jing pull out his pocket notebook recording detailed comments on the male and female leads and supporting characters of school romances from his drawer, and couldn't help feeling exasperated: "Why are you looking at that thing again?"

Lu Jing scribbled some notes in red pen on a blank page: "You just don't get it. What else should high school students read if not youth campus stories?"

Wang Chengshuo eyed the stack of books with pastel pink covers that Lu Jing had moved to his desk: "... Have you been possessed or something lately?"

At noon, students in Mingli school uniforms bustled about Fuxing Lane near the school's east gate.

A dessert and bubble tea shop called "CLASS" was packed with students.

Lu Jing's group occupied the best corner spot, with plenty of air conditioning and away from the noise of the ordering counter.

Lin Sen, Liu Yiheng and the others played a round of their mobile game. Wang Chengshuo was using a napkin as scratch paper to solve math problems.

Lu Jing was curled up in the soft sofa, sipping iced coffee and watching the glass door of the dessert shop open and close.

Lu Jing said: "Let me ask you guys something. Do you know who the school's most popular guy is?"

Lin Sen answered without hesitation: "You, of course."

Lu Jing punched him.

Lin Sen shifted to the side, finally looking up from his game screen with a smile: "What's up, Jing-ge? You want to be the campus heartthrob?"

Liu Yiheng said: "It's not impossible. We bros can vote for you right now."

Lin Sen was getting excited about the idea, immediately switching his phone screen: "Hold on, I'll check the school forum to see how the voting system works. We can rig it behind the scenes. It's a sure thing."

Hearing them get more and more ridiculous, Lu Jing pressed his palm on Lin Sen's phone to push it down: "I'm being serious here. Help me find someone."

Lin Sen and Liu Yiheng finally reined in their playfulness a bit. Wang Chengshuo also looked up curiously: "Who? Why all the mystery?"

"Someone from the spring class."

As soon as Lu Jing said those four words, Liu Yiheng interrupted: "Spring class? Lin Sen knows them well. Which grade? What's the name?"

Lu Jing said: "I don't know the grade or name. Just know he's the school's most popular guy, an unattainable flower, noble and handsome..."

"Wait, noble what?"

"The school's most popular guy, an unattainable flower, noble and handsome, cold and aloof."

"What handsome?"

"Are you not hearing me speak Chinese?" Lu Jing took a deep breath and repeated once more, "The school's most popular guy, an unattainable flower, noble and handsome, cold and aloof."

Liu Yiheng's expression was like an old man on the subway trying to use a smartphone.

"Do you understand now?" Lu Jing continued, "The popular guy has a reserved personality, mostly indifferent to girls. When his eyes turn red, he's supposed to show madness. Oh, the eye part is my own guess, could be a small probability event, or maybe a large probability event..."

Seeing Lu Jing pause, Liu Yiheng elbowed Wang Chengshuo: "Shuo-ge, anything you want to say?"

Wang Chengshuo demurred: "You go first."

Liu Yiheng nodded: "Alright, I'll start. Jing-ge, think about it yourself. Those words you just used, are they meant to describe a normal person?"

Wang Chengshuo also nodded in agreement: "Have you been reading too many romance novels lately?"

But Lu Jing acted as if he hadn't heard what they said, pondering whether he had missed anything, then suddenly added: "Ah, one more crucial point. His voice should be husky when he speaks."

Wang Chengshuo: "..."

Liu Yiheng: "..."

In the midst of the silence, Lin Sen, who had been quiet since Lu Jing started his description, gestured with his chin:

"There, your unattainable flower."

"I didn't really notice if his voice was hoarse or not, but his personality is indeed quite aloof and cold," Lu Jing said.

She looked up to see a group of tall boys walking past the transparent display window outside the shop.

The wind chime tinkled softly as the door to the dessert shop opened. A few boys from Class 1 walked in, laughing and chatting. The one standing in the middle had little expression on his face, but was somewhat handsome.