Chapter 43: After Class, Fall Into My Arms (41)

Rose He: "..."

She chose to close her eyes and remain silent.

Aci was a well-behaved child and would never wake someone up just to continue asking questions. She had no choice but to turn her attention to the teacher at the podium. Yet her thoughts kept circling back to young love.

She had never understood what it was. How could it make a cold, unfeeling war god lay everything down, with a pond full of lotus blossoms blooming just to win a lover’s smile? How could it make the beautiful and noble Sister Chaoyun remain trapped beneath the Monster Beast Lake for thirty thousand years, just to see that person once more? How could it...

She was thinking too much, and her head began to ache. She shook her head slightly.

Suddenly, her gaze met the teacher’s on the podium. Her heart sank.

Sure enough—

"Aci, please stand up and read from the first to the fourth paragraph."

She rose to her feet, her expression utterly unflustered—even carrying a hint of quiet confidence.

The boys in the back row seized the opportunity to study the new, adorable classmate. She was simply too well-behaved, sitting properly during class and even during breaks. Surely she must be an excellent student too. Look at her—her posture brimmed with presence; this was the bearing of a true ace.

Aci held her book, staring at the strange array of symbols on the English page.

She blinked.

Since she couldn’t understand any of it, why not just read it however she wished? With that thought, Aci smiled.

To onlookers, it was a smile full of confidence. Even the English teacher at the podium smiled with satisfaction.

But when she began to speak—

!!!

What on earth was that?

Aci recited a string of gibberish.

The students: "..." Was this the English they had learned? Why did it sound like birdsong?

The teacher: "..." She had never taught that kind of pronunciation. If anyone asked, she would absolutely deny it.

The little girl stood with her head lowered, earnestly looking at her textbook. Her voice was clear and round, her face showing no trace of embarrassment. In fact, when the room fell into silence, she lifted her head with innocent eyes, as if to ask, "Did I say it wrong?"

"Ahem... you may sit down now," the English teacher said, before calling on another student. Upon hearing the next student’s awkward, incorrect pronunciation, she found it almost pleasant by comparison.

The boys in the back row gazed at Aci’s back with expressions of awe. "Good students really aren’t perfect," one of them sighed. "It’s no big deal if she can’t handle an alien language like English! Aci is truly different—no one knows what she was reciting, but it sounded great!"

The others nodded in agreement.

A flawless person isn’t perfect, they all agreed.

As soon as Aci sat down, she saw Rose He staring at her with a look of shock.

"What’s wrong?" Aci asked, giving a shy smile, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Aci, your... your English isn’t good?"

She had always thought Aci was a top student, the type who scored full marks in every subject.

Aci nodded honestly. "I can’t understand any of it."

She really couldn’t; at least Rose He knew what "I", "is", "that" meant...

But Aci was completely lost. It was obvious from her reading just now.

"Then you must be amazing at all your other subjects!"

Rose He gave Aci a big thumbs up. To boldly recite nonsense in class—that deserved such praise.

"Actually, I’m not..."

The girl lowered her head and mumbled.

"Aci, don’t be so modest," Rose He said with a smile, taking the opportunity to glance at Aci’s English textbook.

It was covered in circles and markings.

But...

They were all drawings.