Reversed Life: Chapter 10 - The Little Piglets of Class Nine Who Usually Just Roll Around Causing Chaos are Actually Doing Practice Papers?!
Chapter 10: The Little Piglets of Class Nine Who Usually Just Roll Around Causing Chaos are Actually Doing Practice Papers?!
The scene inside the office looked like judges at a talent competition.
The director of discipline, who still hadn’t figured out what was happening, scratched the back of his head. “Huh? What’s going on here…?”
Why had everyone suddenly sat down?
Principal Sun stared ahead without speaking. In his numb gaze, the handsome young student, after seeing them all seated, had calmly walked over to the water dispenser and started rummaging around. A moment later, he found four paper cups.
The director became even more surprised when a cup of hot water was placed in front of him. After all, No. 12 High School was a public school with a mixed student body. Most teenagers at that age instinctively viewed authority with suspicion, and his position as director of discipline meant the students he dealt with most often were usually the rowdiest troublemakers. After years of teaching, he rarely encountered a student this considerate toward him. So when he accepted the hot water with both hands and took his first sip, he actually felt a little shy. Deep down, he thought with great satisfaction: Good-looking, upright, polite—just as expected of an excellent student from No. 12 High School.
Principal Sun sighed and finally let it go too. Sure, the kid had poor eyesight, but judging from his behavior, there was absolutely nothing to criticize.
A truly respectful and well-mannered student.
So he stopped thinking about how to leave and instead asked: “There are so many students standing outside the office. What exactly are you discussing? Why don’t I hear it too?”
For the first time, Teacher Wang suddenly felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. Under Mu Xiangxiang’s calm gaze as she stood quietly nearby, all the confidence she’d had earlier—when she’d threatened her colleague with the new principal—had vanished without a trace.
Mo Wen, however, trusted his students as firmly as ever. After Teacher Wang finished speaking and the two school leaders frowned slightly, he eagerly repeated the explanation that Teacher Wang had interrupted earlier, then concluded: “I still choose to believe my students. They’re all good kids. There’s no way they would collectively bully a classmate for no reason.”
Teacher Wang sneered. “Good kids?”
Then she turned away dismissively. “Principal Sun, since you just arrived at the school, you may not understand yet. Our student Bai Yingjie is truly outstanding. Last semester, his total exam scores ranked third in the entire second-year grade. Director Zhuang can confirm that.”
Director Zhuang nodded. “I do vaguely remember that.”
Principal Sun pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze forward. “You’re Qiao Nan, right? Do you have anything to say?”
Mu Xiangxiang remained expressionless throughout. Even during Teacher Wang’s heavily biased speech, her emotions hadn’t visibly fluctuated. She still insisted on her original request. “I request a face-to-face confrontation with Bai Yingjie.”
Teacher Wang rejected it immediately without thinking. “No.”
Only after noticing Principal Sun and Director Zhuang looking at her did she awkwardly explain: “This isn’t my own opinion—it’s what Bai Yingjie’s mother requested. Because of the beating, Bai Yingjie has suffered severe emotional trauma. Recently, his mental state has been very unstable. He even refused my suggestion that the students from Class 9 visit and apologize in person. Under these circumstances, the two sides absolutely shouldn’t meet face-to-face. Besides, you know how boys this age are. Their self-esteem is very strong. He specifically begged me not to let his classmates know he got beaten up because he’s afraid they’ll laugh at him. I really don’t want this incident to further affect his future studies, daily life, or mentality.”
“Then what about our class?” Before she could finish, Mo Wen angrily interrupted. “You’re drawing conclusions without even clarifying the truth. Aren’t you worried about affecting our students’ studies, daily lives, and mental states?”
Teacher Wang frowned in disgust. “What kind of ‘study mentality’ could students like yours possibly have?”
Then she turned solemnly toward Principal Sun and Director Zhuang. “Principal Sun, Director Zhuang, the truth is already obvious. I honestly don’t know what Teacher Mo is still deceiving himself about.”
But unexpectedly, neither school leader looked convinced after hearing her.
Director Zhuang thought for a moment. “Well… Teacher Wang. Personally, I think that since students from both sides dispute what happened, a face-to-face confrontation might actually be a good solution.”
Director Zhuang just couldn’t believe that the Qiao Nan who had treated him so politely could really be the kind of person Teacher Wang described—someone who would beat up classmates for no reason.
Teacher Wang froze, looking stunned. “…Director Zhuang, you… No, I really don’t think that’s necessary. I’ve been teaching for more than ten years. I can guarantee that Bai Yingjie from our class is truly an excellent, outstanding student. Just look at his grades—”
She never got to finish the second half of that sentence.
Because at that moment, the highest-ranking person in the office spoke up, cutting her off. “Xiao Zhuang, go get someone from Class 1 and call that student over.”
Then, under Teacher Wang’s disbelieving stare, Principal Sun took a sip of tea and calmly met her gaze. “Teacher Wang, let’s all stay objective here. I think a student who gives up his seat to others on the bus deserves at least a little trust, no matter what.”
******
Ever since arriving at school that morning, Bai Yingjie had felt inexplicably uneasy. He didn’t even have the mood to sneak glances at the girl he liked.
He felt both satisfied and stifled. Stifled because the girl he liked didn’t like him back, and because when he’d gone to provoke Qiao Nan, he’d ended up getting beaten black and blue. Satisfied because he hadn’t let the other side off easy either. Judging from the way Teacher Wang had been talking these past few days, Qiao Nan and his friends were definitely going to end up with serious disciplinary marks on their permanent records.
And yet Bai Yingjie still looked gloomy. He simply couldn’t understand what exactly Qiao Nan had over him. Why was it that despite terrible grades and a sloppy, carefree personality, Qiao Nan still had so many friends around him? Even the aloof girls in Bai Yingjie’s own class seemed unusually fond of him.
Good-looking? Rich family background?
Bai Yingjie had those too! He studied so hard, actively befriended classmates with good grades and strong family backgrounds, yet all he ever had were shallow acquaintances.
Even he himself couldn’t explain what impulse had driven him to pick a fight with Qiao Nan back then. But regardless, the result had been good. At the very least, a whole group from Class 9 would be dragged down by this incident. Who knew? Maybe Qiao Nan and those inseparable buddies of his would even start resenting each other over it.
Meanwhile, Bai Yingjie would remain the “other people’s child” everyone praised—the top-three student in the grade, admired by teachers and parents alike.
As he imagined that satisfying future, however, his eyelids kept twitching nonstop.
He just had this feeling that something bad was about to happen.
Caught in that inexplicable sense of danger, he suddenly heard a strange commotion outside the classroom. Amid the excited squeals from several girls in the class, he looked up from his books— Just in time to see the classroom door kicked open.
Several boys from Class 9 stood outside. Their intimidating entrance and strikingly handsome appearances instantly sent the girls in the elite class into an uproar. Then they heard the gloomy voice of the pale-skinned guy leading them—
“Bai Yingjie? Get out here. The principal and your homeroom teacher are looking for you.”
Bai Yingjie was so panicked he could barely walk straight—especially after meeting the deep, unreadable eyes of the new principal in the office. No matter how scheming he was, he was still just an ordinary high-school student sheltered in an ivory tower. The psychological pressure of lying to a principal was completely different from lying to a familiar, trusted homeroom teacher.
Good students rarely got called out by teachers for criticism. Bai Yingjie’s behavior was acting so strange that plenty of curious students from Class 1 followed behind, hiding outside the office to eavesdrop.
At first, they assumed it would be something ordinary—poor exam results, disappointing competition performance, something like that. Those were common enough.
But as time passed, the atmosphere inside the office changed dramatically. And outside, the expressions on the students of Class 1 gradually turned uglier as they pieced together fragments of the conversation drifting out.
*******
The confrontation itself wasn’t difficult at all.
Mu Xiangxiang was completely different from Qiao Nan, who often swallowed his grievances just to look cool. Perhaps because she’d grown up protecting her unusually honest and clumsy family members, she was extremely serious about certain principles—to the point of nitpicking every detail. Her questioning was calm and razor-sharp. And inside the office sat four teachers and administrators whose authority was absolutely overwhelming to students. Bai Yingjie initially tried to resist with stubborn silence, but once even Principal Sun started noticing inconsistencies, his defenses completely collapsed.
Teacher Wang stared at her prized student in disbelief. Bai Yingjie, whose mentality had completely collapsed, was now crying so hard that tears and snot streamed down his face. In the end, it was Mu Xiangxiang who glanced around, found a pack of tissues on the desk, and handed them over.
Bai Yingjie had always studied diligently and behaved honestly. Among all the boys in the elite class, he was unquestionably Teacher Wang’s favorite. So when he had told her “the truth” before, she truly hadn’t doubted him in the slightest.
She was so angry she felt dizzy, practically wanting to crack open his skull just to see what was inside. “You… what on earth were you thinking?! Why would you do something like that!?”
Bai Yingjie took the tissue held out before him. Through tear-blurred eyes, he unexpectedly saw the cold yet handsome face of his imagined rival. The hand offering him the tissue was slender and pale. An indescribable feeling welled up inside him. He quickly looked away and cried even harder.
Unable to get an answer, Teacher Wang’s face turned pale with fury. She shot to her feet so abruptly that she could barely maintain basic politeness toward the school leaders anymore. “I’m sorry, Principal Sun, Director Zhuang. I need to talk to this child privately. We may have to leave first.”
Principal Sun and Director Zhuang exchanged glances. Honestly, even they had never expected the truth to turn out like this, and neither knew quite what to say, so they could only let them go.
“Wait.” But Mu Xiangxiang frowned and stopped Teacher Wang just as she naturally ignored the opinion of the third party involved and started walking away. “Teacher Wang, do you still remember the things you said to Teacher Mo when you first came in here? I think you should at least apologize to him before leaving.”
Mo Wen, who had stayed mostly silent this whole time, immediately looked up in shock. “Huh? Me?”
Overcome with anger moments ago, Teacher Wang only now remembered everything she had arrogantly said earlier. Shame flooded her mind so fiercely she almost wished the ground would swallow her whole. As the homeroom teacher of the elite class, responsible for the best students in the entire second-year grade, she honestly had always looked down on Mo Wen. Sometimes, when he greeted her first, she wouldn’t even bother acknowledging him.
Mo Wen clearly knew how prideful she was. Flustered by his student’s suggestion, he waved his hands helplessly. “No, no, it’s fine, Teacher Wang. You were deceived too—”
“No.”
Unexpectedly, this time Teacher Wang interrupted him herself. “Qiao Nan is right. I was prejudiced against the students of Class 9. I wasn’t objective at all, and I said many inappropriate things.”
She released her grip on Bai Yingjie’s arm, straightened her posture, and solemnly bowed halfway toward Mo Wen.
“Teacher Mo, I’m sorry. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Mo Wen stared at her blankly, his hands still half-raised awkwardly in front of his chest, looking completely at a loss.
Principal Sun, meanwhile, had finally glimpsed some of No. 12 High School’s deeper problems through this whole mess. He sighed, stood up, and patted Mo Wen on the shoulder. “You’re doing very well. You’ve raised a fine student.”
Then he turned to Teacher Wang, whose expression had calmed considerably. “Teacher Wang, you’re an experienced teacher. I believe in your professional ethics. When we educate children and cultivate future pillars of society, there’s a much longer road ahead than just the grades right in front of us.”
Teacher Wang’s expression shifted. Her eyes reddened as well. She nodded silently and dragged Bai Yingjie toward the door. When they passed the students from both classes standing outside—each group wearing very different expressions—she paused briefly. In the end, she turned toward the children from Class 9, who were openly hostile toward her. “I’m sorry. This time, the teacher was wrong. Later, I’ll bring Bai Yingjie to apologize to all of you properly.”
After saying that, she hurried away without waiting for a response. Everyone outside watched her retreating figure in a daze. A moment later, the students from Class 1 flushed with shame and hurried after her.
Class 9, meanwhile, had fallen into an unusual silence.
In that quiet, Principal Sun finished the last of the hot water in his cup and beckoned to Director Zhuang. “Alright, let’s go.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, he walked toward the door, feeling as though he’d just attended an important lesson in life. His expression and thoughts alike had become deeply solemn. Before leaving, he turned back once more and gave the young man in the room a long, meaningful look.
Their eyes met. On the young man’s calm face, one eyebrow lifted slightly, and his lips parted.
Principal Sun was waiting, expecting the other party to say something to him—some kind of fiery youthful ambition?
The next second, he heard a clear voice drift into his ears: “Take care, Director Zhuang. Grandpa Principal.”
Principal Sun: “………………………………………………”
Many of the Class 9 students at the doorway also heard the farewell. Although they weren’t very good at interacting with teachers, since their “boss” had led the way, the kids present still awkwardly and unevenly chimed in after him—
“Take care, Director Zhuang. Take care, Grandpa Principal.”
Director Zhuang nodded at the students while turning to look at the newly appointed principal in his mid-forties standing beside him: “???”
Principal Sun, on his first day in office, suddenly felt a bit lost as he looked up at the sky.
********
Mu Xiangxiang and a group of students found their homeroom teacher Mo Wen, who had said he “went to the restroom,” on a deserted staircase behind the teaching building of No. 12 High School.
Mo Wen was sitting on the steps, letting the wind blow at him while wiping away tears. His emotions were still in turmoil and hadn’t settled yet. Suddenly, he felt a warmth at his cheek. Turning around, he saw his class troublemaker standing above him, looking down, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a paper cup.
Mo Wen stared blankly and took the cup. Looking down, he saw a few goji berries floating inside.
He couldn’t help but laugh. This child had transferred in during tenth grade, and after so long together, he had always known they weren’t as cold and intimidating as they appeared—but this was the first time he had felt their concern so directly.
Looking behind him, he saw the rowdy Class 9 students shoving each other shyly behind the building, seemingly too embarrassed to come closer.
“Thank you,” Mo Wen said, his expression softer than ever. “Really, thank you.”
Mu Xiangxiang had never encountered a bad teacher in her life, but she had also never met one with such a good temper. She stared at his reddened eyes for a moment, recalling how he had defended Qiao Nan and the others in the office earlier against the strong-willed Teacher Wang. Although she didn’t really understand why he was thanking her, she still tilted her head slightly. “Old Mo.”
Mo Wen froze at this rare hint of innocence from her. “Hm?”
Mu Xiangxiang said sincerely, “You’re a good teacher.”
As soon as she said it, the man holding the paper cup fell into a sudden daze. After a moment, with no response except a faint redness spreading across his cheekbones, Mu Xiangxiang shrugged and walked away.
She returned to the classroom, idly flipped through a textbook for a while, and when she had nothing else to do, she pulled out a set of Huanggang exam papers and started working on them.
While she was doing so, a few people shoved their way over from behind her desk. She looked up to see Yan Zhiyang and Guo Zhi at the front, both looking deeply moved. “Brother Nan, you suffered for us.”
They knew Qiao Nan’s personality too well. He was so proud that he would never bother to argue for his innocence with people who didn’t trust him. When the school had questioned him earlier, he hadn’t even bothered to respond, fully prepared to accept punishment. It was only because Class 1’s homeroom teacher had insisted on making things difficult for Old Mo and the rest of Class 9 that he finally stepped in.
Watching their “boss,” so proud in their eyes, serve tea and move chairs for a group of school leaders in the office for their sake, Yan Zhiyang and the others didn’t feel their image of him collapse at all. Instead, that figure only became taller in their hearts—so much taller that it filled them with shame.
But perhaps they were too overwhelmed with emotion; at that moment, they didn’t even know what to say. For the first time, they resented themselves for not studying properly and lacking vocabulary.
‘Suffered? No?’ Mu Xiangxiang looked confused, not understanding what they were talking about, and shook her head.
Seeing her so nonchalant, Yan Zhiyang’s eyes turned red. He rubbed his eyes hard and said, “Brother Nan, I know I was wrong. You warned me not to argue with that idiot back then, but I was too impulsive and ended up causing you trouble.”
Mu Xiangxiang, at the end of the day, was still a normal girl. Having a good-looking boy crying right in front of her was a bit beyond her emotional tolerance range. She didn’t really know how to comfort a boy her age, so she simply put down her pen and patted his head. “Stop talking. It’s not your fault.”
Then, remembering what had happened outside the office earlier, she added seriously: “And… just now, before we went into the office, I was really happy that you all stood up for me.”
She said it very earnestly, and she genuinely meant it. Honestly, this was the first time in her life she had ever felt such direct concern from friends.
But unexpectedly, the entire scene froze for three seconds. Even Yan Zhiyang, whose head had just been patted, was completely stunned.
Then, after three seconds—the entire class collectively “walked backwards” in panic!
Everyone shuffled back three steps in unison, stumbling and scrambling until they were plastered against the back wall of the classroom.
Mu Xiangxiang: “???”
These people were seriously just like Qiao Nan—why were they all so jumpy?
Thinking she had successfully reassured them, she calmly turned back and continued writing her practice paper.
At the back of the classroom, dozens of students were squeezed into a tight cluster, all of them flushed red.
“Hey!” Guo Zhi tugged lightly at Yan Zhiyang’s sleeve, his pale face now fully blushing. “Brother Nan… he just… thanked us!”
“Shut up!” Yan Zhiyang said smugly, practically floating with pride. “He even patted my head!”
Everyone cautiously stretched their necks, looking at the lone figure sitting properly at the desk as if they were observing some rare exotic animal.
“Hey, what’s Brother Nan doing?”
“Looks like he’s doing a practice paper.”
“No way, seriously?”
“Didn’t you hear how harsh that teacher from Class 1 and Old Mo were talking? Brother Nan is probably trying to stand up for Old Mo.”
“Yeah, our grades are too bad, Old Mo must be under a lot of pressure. He was even secretly crying earlier.”
“I feel like Brother Nan suddenly got so much more mature. He must’ve been really triggered.”
“Damn it! Even the boss has started studying—what are you all doing?!” Yan Zhiyang suddenly broke out of the crowd, chest puffed up with pride from having his head patted, and raised his arm dramatically. “Everyone, move! Let’s go! Let’s do this together and make Old Mo and the boss proud!”
The fourth class period finally began normally. After the bell rang, the math teacher for Class 9 hurried into the classroom with his lesson plan—and the moment he stepped through the door, he was almost blinded by the “radiance” coming from inside.
He nearly stumbled backward on the spot. Barely regaining his balance, he stood frozen, instinctively checking the class sign above the door.
‘W-what is going on here!!!’
The elderly math teacher’s calm face masked internal screaming.
The usually chaotic Class 9—normally like a pigpen—was now completely silent.
Those students who usually crawled around the room like restless piglets…
Today! Every single one of them! Was chewing their pens and doing practice papers!
----------
If you like my translation, please support me by buying me a coffee:
0 comments: