Chapter 150: Being Called In Front To Answer The Question

Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Being Called In Front To Answer The Question

Normally, the room would be buzzing with loud chatter at this time of the morning, with students laughing and shouting across desks before the first bell rang. Today, however, the room was wrapped in an unnerving, heavy silence.

The four girls immediately sensed the awkward, tense atmosphere in the air.

Instinctively, their eyes drifted toward Yin Junjie’s desk in the back corner.

Yin Junjie was already sitting in his seat, resting his chin on his palm while staring intently out the window with an icy expression.

No wonder the room was dead silent. The rest of the class was terrified of accidentally setting off Yin Junjie’s infamous temper. As a result, everyone was whispering in hushed tones, treading as carefully as humanly possible.

Qiao Meixia walked over to her desk, set her school bag down, and hung her cake bag on the side hook. In doing so, she happened to glance over at Yin Junjie.

The instant their eyes met, Yin Junjie jerked his head away, deliberately looking back out the window.

Qiao Meixia caught the subtle movement, a single eyebrow lifting slightly in amusement.

When they were hanging out at the racing circuit yesterday, Yin Junjie had acted completely normal and relaxed around her. Yet the moment they set foot on school grounds, he was right back to acting utterly bizarre whenever she was nearby.

Since their desks were positioned right next to each other, Qiao Meixia turned her body toward him.

"Are you alright?" Qiao Meixia asked plainly.

"Huh?" Yin Junjie flinched slightly, taken aback by the sudden question.

"Do you have something you want to say to me?" Qiao Meixia pressed gently.

"No!" Yin Junjie shook his head furiously, looking anywhere but at her face.

"Oh," Qiao Meixia nodded once and turned back to face her desk.

Yin Junjie secretly stole a quick glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that she had already lost interest and was no longer looking at him, he quietly let out a long, tense breath he had not realised he was holding.

He genuinely could not comprehend why his chest tightened and his heart raced so nervously every single time Qiao Meixia looked directly at him. It was not as if she had ever done anything intimidating or aggressive toward him.

Teacher Peng Jian walked into the classroom carrying a stack of textbooks under his arm. Scanning the room, he was genuinely surprised to spot Yin Junjie already seated at his desk.

Usually, the boy never bothered showing up early for morning attendance, yet here he was, sitting quietly in his seat. Teacher Peng Jian felt a wave of quiet relief seeing him arrive on time.

As per his usual routine, Teacher Peng Jian began calling out the roll. He could not help but feel a swell of satisfaction. For the very first time since taking over this class, every single student was present.

With roll call finished, Teacher Peng Jian transitioned directly into the morning lesson.

Qiao Meixia opened her textbook to the required page. Right as she was tuning into the lecture, her phone gave a discreet vibration inside her pocket. She subtly glanced around.

Neither the teacher nor the students nearby were paying any attention to her. Slipping the phone out, she checked the top banner notification.

It was an encrypted message dispatch.

Qiao Meixia’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits the moment her gaze landed on the alert. She refrained from opening the message right away.

Her training had taught her long ago that encrypted communications should never be opened carelessly, especially in a public space. There was always a risk that an active network connection could be intercepted to trace her location or expose confidential data she could not afford to leak.

Given that she was currently sitting in a crowded classroom, it was hardly an ideal setting to decrypt the file.

Qiao Meixia slid the phone back into her pocket. She would review its contents once class was dismissed.

"Student Qiao." Teacher Peng Jian’s stern voice suddenly broke her train of thought.

"Yes?" Qiao Meixia looked up, her face entirely composed.

"Even though the school board permits students to bring mobile devices to campus, that does not mean you should be checking your phone during instructional time." Teacher Peng Jian admonished gently.

Having been caught in the act, Qiao Meixia simply met his gaze without offering any excuses or defensive remarks.

"Since you seem to have spare attention to give, why don’t you stand up and answer the problem on the board?" Teacher Peng Jian challenged, gesturing toward the blackboard.

The entire class turned in their seats to look at her.

Qiao Meixia surveyed the complex equation written across the board. Rising from her seat without a moment’s hesitation, she delivered the correct step-by-step solution in a clear, unhurried voice.

Teacher Peng Jian nodded in thorough approval. "Excellent work. I am glad to see that despite looking at your phone, you are still actively following along with the lesson."

"I understand." Qiao Meixia replied concisely.

"You may take your seat." Teacher Peng Jian instructed.

Qiao Meixia sat back down, picking up her pen to jot down a few notes as she continued following the lecture as if nothing had transpired. Beneath her calm exterior, however, her thoughts kept drifting back to the encrypted message. She could not help but wonder what kind of situation had prompted the Red Mansion to contact her during school hours.

Under normal circumstances, they would never reach out without a critical, pressing reason.

Qiao Meixia quietly glanced at the wall clock.

There was still some time left before the final bell would ring for the period. She chose to remain patient.

Whatever the dispatch contained, it could wait until the lesson officially wrapped up. There was no point in risking a security breach inside the classroom.

Even so, a lingering gut instinct told her that whatever was hidden inside that encrypted file was far from simple.

The remaining thirty minutes of class passed agonizingly slowly.

Qiao Meixia kept her eyes trained on the blackboard, listening to Teacher Peng Jian’s detailed explanations. Truth be told, she was bored out of her mind. The material being covered was basic knowledge she had mastered years ago. Because of that, her mind continuously drifted back to the encrypted message sitting silently in her skirt pocket. She had already made up her mind to hold off on checking it until the class period officially ended.

There was truly no need to rush. If the Red Mansion had gone out of its way to send her a heavily encrypted dispatch, the contents were almost certainly important. However, if it were a dire life-or-death emergency, their automated systems would have bypassed protocol and contacted her a second time by now.

Qiao Meixia glanced at the wall clock once again.

Five minutes left.

Teacher Peng Jian was currently wrapping up the final section of his lecture slides.

"Alright, everyone. That will be all for today’s material." Teacher Peng Jian announced, capping his marker with a soft click as he turned to face the class. "I expect everyone to review today’s notes thoroughly tonight. We will be having a short pop quiz tomorrow morning."

An immediate, collective groan echoed throughout the room.

"Old Peng, you’re being an absolute sadist!"

"Why are you giving us another test already?!"

"We literally just took one last week!"

"Old Peng, please, have some mercy on us!"

"You should all be thanking me for giving you an opportunity to test your retention." Teacher Peng Jian replied dryly, surveying the miserable faces in front of him without an ounce of sympathy.

The classroom instantly descended into louder complaints.

"Alright, alright, settle down. Stop whining." Teacher Peng Jian sighed, gathering his textbooks under his arm. "The test will not be difficult at all if you actually pay attention during my lectures. Class dismissed. You may take your morning break."

The second Teacher Peng Jian stepped out the door, the room erupted into chatter as students stretched and huddled together.

Qiao Meixia, on the other hand, stood up instantly and made a swift beeline for the exit.

"Meixia, are you heading somewhere?" Ruan Jiaojiao called out, caught off guard by Qiao Meixia’s unusually hasty retreat.

"Restroom." Qiao Meixia replied flatly, without slowing her pace for a single second.

Ruan Jiaojiao nodded in understanding and turned back to resume her conversation with the others.

Once Qiao Meixia stepped inside one of the private restroom cubicles, she locked the door behind her and pulled out her phone without delay. With a few practised taps on the screen, she executed a rapid key sequence that shifted her phone’s display into a secondary, heavily secure operating interface.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***