Zheng Yang watched Zhang Zihan approach, tense.
She instinctively glanced at Siyuan, who acted as if nothing was wrong, ignoring her entirely.
But Zhang Zihan didn’t drape his arm over her shoulder like before.
He just tapped her desk.
“Go see the head teacher during next study hall.”
Zheng Yang let out a breath of relief as she looked at Zhang Zihan, unable to read his expression—
It didn’t seem like the frustration of being caught, but more like consolation, maybe even a hint of apology?
‘And why does Teacher Li want to see me? Didn’t she already say everything? Did the problem not get resolved, and we need to discuss it more?’
In the office, Li Chuandao was filling a cup of water.
When he saw Zheng Yang enter, he gave her an expression that said, “It’s all taken care of.”
Zheng Yang patted her chest, but that only made her more confused.
‘If it’s already settled, why call me? Just to tell me?’
Teacher Li invited Zheng Yang to sit down.
“Zihan has realized his mistake. I believe he won’t act so excessively toward you anymore.”
“Thank you, Teacher!”
“But I can’t say whether he’ll confess his feelings to you later. Even if I know he will, I can’t stop him.”
“Huh?”
Zheng Yang gave a wry smile.
‘I’m not surprised. Zhang Zihan has a crush on me; a confession is possible. After all, I wrote love letters to my own crush in high school—totally normal.’
“So you should be mentally prepared. It won’t just be Zhang Zihan—you’re so cute, you’ll probably be confessed to more than once. You need to decide how to handle it.”
Zheng Yang blushed a little, lowering her head with a small smile.
“Teacher, you’re exaggerating…”
Teacher Li chuckled.
“I didn’t just call you here for that. It’s also to create a sense of ‘blaming both sides equally,’ otherwise Zhang Zihan might think I’m only targeting him.”
“Oh——” Zheng Yang suddenly understood.
“When you go back, you have to look like you’ve been scolded—don’t be cheerful, or I won’t be able to explain it.”
Teacher Li grinned.
“Better yet, put your head down and fake a cry.”
“Haha!”
Zheng Yang laughed so hard she tilted her head back, then quickly covered her mouth.
“Right, right. The more wronged I look, the guiltier Zhang Zihan will feel, and the less he’ll dare approach me.”
‘I’m giving Teacher Li a thumbs-up too. At least I didn’t think of this idea. Seems this young guy knows a bit about strategy.’
Zheng Yang always subconsciously underestimated the wisdom and experience of the younger generation, just like her former father.
But she increasingly found herself relying on people younger than her—
Wu Chun, Li Chuandao, even the classmates she saw as “little kids.”
They occasionally brought her fresh, useful ideas that made her eyes light up.
She really wanted to say something to that former father of hers:
‘Dad, stop clinging to old experience. It only shows your ignorance and narrow-mindedness; it’s really useless.’
But she knew that old father wouldn’t change.
That’s why, despite feeling guilty toward him, she didn’t miss him.
‘Oh, right. That means Siyuan—that kid—might also have many areas where he surpasses me? I just don’t know, haven’t discovered, or don’t want to admit it?’
These thoughts made her a bit more optimistic about her future relationship with Siyuan.
But she forgot for a moment that since becoming a girl, fate always gave her new trials when she felt optimistic.
“One more thing, very important—no, the most important.”
Teacher Li held up a finger.
“Subject selection. You’ll choose subjects and split into new classes in your second year. Have you decided what you want to pick?”
Zheng Yang’s face showed confusion and shock.
Seeing that, Teacher Li asked, “Do you know how the subject selection works?”
Zheng Yang shook her head like an idiot.
So Teacher Li patiently explained the current “3+1+2” model—how before, it was just arts and sciences with two choices, but now it’s physics-track and history-track, with a total of twelve options.
The school didn’t offer all twelve;
At most, five or six options were available.
Still, it was vastly different from the old arts-sciences split.
Zheng Yang listened while her mind wandered.
‘For subject selection, my memory is still stuck twenty years ago—just a simple arts and sciences distinction. I loved history and geography, but back then, I hated politics so much I chose sciences.’
Later, she only knew there was a college entrance exam reform, and selections were freer than before, but she never really looked into it.
Since it’s freer now, she wanted to try picking an arts track without politics.
But she roughly knew that arts subjects nowadays had a much harder job market than in her day.
Most people chose sciences.
‘But now I’m the eldest daughter of the Zheng family. Zheng Shiqiang said he’d arrange a place for me in the Zheng Corporation, so I don’t have to worry about jobs.’
‘But… but… what about Wu Chun? What about Siyuan?’
‘If they both pick sciences, will I be separated from them?’
‘Wu Chun—my best friend. The thought of splitting classes with her feels as awful as having a big fight with a close classmate.’
She didn’t want that.
‘And Siyuan? I’ve always avoided being in the same class or at the same desk with my son, afraid that seeing me every day might make him develop inappropriate feelings. But now, the thought of being separated from him—why does my heart ache a little?’
‘Could it be that I also want to stay by Siyuan’s side?’
‘My feelings for Siyuan…?’
‘No, no, no. It’s just an old father’s worry about his son. At best, it’s like a good friend… right, a good friend—the regret of parting with a good friend.’
‘Really, I almost got the wrong idea. Scared me!’
Zheng Yang was back in high school and really wanted to experience being an arts student for once, but she also truly didn’t want to separate from Wu Chun and Siyuan.
She felt herself getting anxious.
She never thought that her soul—
A weathered 38-year-old man—
would get anxious over splitting from two teenage brats.
It wasn’t even life or death, just a different class.
She felt even more anxious about her own “inadequacy.”
Teacher Li waved a hand in front of her eyes.
“Yangyang, are you listening to me?”
Zheng Yang snapped back to attention.
“Ah, sorry, Teacher…”
Teacher Li didn’t mind.
He handed her a form.
“These are the five choices the school offers: three for physics-track and two for history-track. Take a look.”
Zheng Yang took it and saw that the two history-track options were “History + Politics + Geography” and “History + Politics + Biology.”
Both included politics.
Her preferred combination of “History + Geography + Biology” wasn’t there.
Disappointed, she asked Teacher Li.
“Oh, you like that combination… I’ll report it to the academic affairs office, but I can’t guarantee the school will open a slot for it. It has… very limited career prospects.”
“So I can only pick one of the five on the table?”
“Not exactly. If you insist on ‘History + Geography + Biology,’ you can take a ‘floating class schedule.’”
“Floating class… is that like college?”
“You know how college classes work?”
Teacher Li was a bit surprised.
“I… I’ve heard adults talk about it.”
Zheng Yang realized she slipped again and quickly made up an excuse.
“It’s a bit similar, but floating classes are common in college, while in high school, they’re rare. That means if you insist on a floating schedule, you’ll likely have no classmates—often going it alone.”
Zheng Yang lowered her head.
‘Another difficult problem.’
“This policy has been in effect for a few years. Many students say taking a floating schedule feels about the same as being a homeless person.”
Teacher Li smiled seriously.
“So, Yangyang, you need to think carefully about balancing your interests with your career path.”
‘Homeless person?’
She definitely didn’t want that.
She could imagine the feeling of everyone else knowing each other while she was an outsider—
That was terrifying.
Her mind was a mess, but she knew she needed her father’s help, and she needed to talk to Wu Chun and Siyuan.
‘Oh, right. The most urgent thing now is to go back, put my head down, and pretend to cry.’
Chapter 49: Subject anxiety
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