Our department head was very responsible when it came to students, probably because he lived on campus. Every Sunday night, he made a point to check in. When I went to see him, he was sitting alone in the office—Jiang Qingqing was supervising self-study, so he was the only one there. I stood at the door, called out "Reporting!", and he waved me in.
Once inside, he asked what I needed. I told him I wanted to switch classes. He seemed surprised—many students actually wanted to transfer into our class, likely because Jiang Qingqing was both stunning and charismatic. Having a teacher like her was undeniably pleasant to look at.
After his initial surprise, he asked why I wanted to transfer. I lied and said the learning atmosphere in our class wasn't great, and I wanted a change. The department head looked even more puzzled. "Your class's grades are quite good. Xia Shi, the top student in the grade, is in your class—and she sits right in front of you, doesn't she? If you don't understand something, you can always ask her."
I insisted, "I'd still rather switch. Staying in this class will only make my grades worse."
He asked why, and I rambled some nonsense. Maybe because I kept pushing, he finally nodded and said, "If you really want to transfer, I'll have to consult your homeroom teacher, Ms. Jiang. If she agrees, I'll approve your transfer."
At that moment, I was thrilled. Jiang Qingqing can't stand me—she probably finds even looking at me disgusting. There's no way she'd refuse.
The department head told me to return to self-study and to ask Jiang Qingqing to come to the office.
When I got back to the classroom, Jiang Qingqing was explaining a question to another student. I went up and called out, "Ms. Jiang—" but before I could continue, she cut me off coldly, "Whatever it is, wait."
Then she went right back to explaining the problem, ignoring me. It pissed me off, but I held back. Since I was leaving soon anyway, I didn't want to argue. I just stood there and waited.
Jiang Qingqing seemed to be doing it on purpose. A simple cloze test question took her forever to explain, with multiple examples. The student she was tutoring looked bored out of his mind but couldn't leave. By the end, I almost laughed—she's dragging this out just to mess with me, and this poor guy is caught in the crossfire.
Finally, she turned to me. While she'd been smiling at the other student, her expression instantly turned icy when she faced me. The speed of the change stunned me.
"What is it?" she asked coldly.
"The department head wants to see you."
"The department head?" Her eyebrows furrowed. I figured she'd assumed I was the one who wanted to talk to her. But of course, the department head's matter was about me.
Jiang Qingqing put down her book with a puzzled look and left for the office. About ten minutes later, she returned with a dark expression.
Standing at the door, she called out sharply, "Zhang Cheng, come here."
Her tone was so stern that the whole class looked up, probably thinking I'd caused trouble again. I stood and walked out. She led me to the hallway before turning around, her face stormy.
"You told the department head you want to transfer?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Why?"
"I just don't feel comfortable here. I want to switch."
Jiang Qingqing let out a cold "Hmph." "Well, I already told the department head—I don't agree."
My expression froze. "What? You don't agree?"
She nodded. "That's right. I don't."
"Why not?"
"No reason. I just don't." She told me to go back to self-study and not to bother the department head about transferring again. She even added, "Even if you go to the principal, I still won't approve it."
I couldn't hold back my anger. "Are you insane? You can't stand me, right? Now that I want to leave, you won't let me? What's wrong with you?"
Jiang Qingqing pointed at me and said, word by word, "Go. Back. To. Class."
I ignored her and walked straight downstairs. She shouted after me, "Zhang Cheng! Stop right now!" but I didn't listen. I left the building and went back to the dorm.
When Gou Mao and the others returned after self-study, Gou Mao pulled me up from my bed. "What did you say to Jiang Qingqing earlier?"
"Nothing much. Just about transferring."
"Seriously? Don't lie to me. Did you make Jiang Qingqing cry?"
That caught me off guard. "What? How?"
"When she came back to the classroom, her eyes were red. A lot of students saw it."
I shook my head. "No way."
That doesn't make sense!
Gou Mao insisted. "She definitely cried. After that, she told the class monitor to keep order and left—probably because she was upset."
I asked a few other dormmates, and they confirmed it—Jiang Qingqing had returned with red eyes and a slightly choked voice.
Hearing that, my mood soured, and a pang of guilt hit me. I lay back down, weirdly hoping Jiang Qingqing would come to check the dorm tonight—maybe because of that guilt. But she never showed.
The department head did, though. He came to our dorm specifically to tell me, "About the transfer—Ms. Jiang doesn't agree." Then he reassured me, "Just focus on your studies. If you ever have any problems, you can come to me."
After he left, I logged into WeChat and sent Jiang Qingqing a message:
"About last night—really sorry. I actually did go to the club, but then there was an emergency at home, so I had to leave. My phone died, so I couldn't tell you."
A moment later, she replied:
"Liar. Get lost."
For some reason, seeing her reply made me feel a little relieved. I quickly typed back:
"I'm not lying. I really was there. There was just an emergency."
She responded: "Prove it."
I thought back and said, *"There was a Hummer H3 parked outside—really eye-catching. Also, the bar was decorated with balloons, like they were doing some kind of event."*
After a pause, she replied:
"You were really there?"
I saw an opening—maybe she'd keep talking to me.
"Yeah. I even got a booth. Cost me 400 bucks."