My Mister Ostrich

Chapter 12-13

It seemed like only Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi, sitting in the corner of the classroom, were still trapped inside the bars of elementary school. The students in the row in front of them didn't really want to turn around to talk to them. Pang Qian felt that, not only hadn't she made any new friends, she'd also grown a bit estranged from Wang Tingting.

Originally, she still had Gu Mingxi. She could joke around with him. But now, Gu Mingxi was growing more quiet. She didn't know why either. Pang Qian was growing more restless. She only hoped that the exams would finish quickly and winter break would arrive. But thinking of the new semester that would come after the break, things would just be as stagnant as they were now. Pang Qi felt rather disheartened.

She only wanted to find someone who would go with her to the bookstore to rent comics. Go out to eat, go rollerblading with her, play games together, go to the video store, or just sit together and talk like young girls do... Of those things, Gu Mingxi could only do some of them. But even when he went with her places, he wouldn't play or eat. After many times, Pang Qian felt that it was kind of pointless.

It was the middle of the month when final exams finally finished. She had seven classes, Chinese, math, English, history, geology(?), life studies(?), and government. She scored 596 points total, which put her at 23rd place in the class. And Gu Mingxi beat out Xie Yi by 19 points, and firmly put himself in 1st for the whole grade.

Pang Qian saw the ranking list posted on the board and was ecstatic. She ran back to Gu Mingxi's side and tugged at his sleeves. "Wah! Gu Mingxi! You're 1st place! You beat out Xie Yi! That's amazing!"

Gu Mingxi's lips turned up into a slight smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He frowned and said, "But... You didn't make it into the top 20."

Pang Qian hadn't thought anything about that. She was already very satisfied with her score and placing. She had made the greatest improvement in the whole class. She knew that it was all thanks to Gu Mingxi.

Pang Qian replied, "Gu Mingxi, I've already done good enough! Next semester, I'll work harder to make sure I get into the top 20!" She smiled happily, pat her chest and said magnanimously, "I'll treat you to something to drink!"

Pang Qian keeps her word, so after class, she went to the school mart to buy Gu Mingxi a can of soda. She bought the soda and went back to the classroom. After she helped him pull off the tab, she put in a straw and placed the can by Gu Mingxi's feet.

Pang Qian didn't notice the strange stares she got from her classmates at all. A lot of people were quietly watching each move between her and Gu Mingxi. When school finished that day, the class representative came over to Pang Qian and told her that Teacher Cao was looking for her.

Pang Qian wasn't very familiar with Teacher Cao. She was a student who didn't really grab onto the teachers' attentions. She never asked any questions, never held any class positions - not even class representative or group leader.

In every teacher's mind, Pang Qian was just Gu Mingxi's deskmate. They'd all heard from Teacher Cao that Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi were deskmates in elementary school for six years. The little girl would help Gu Mingxi with any day to day things. The two students already had an understanding. So it was thanks to Gu Mingxi that Pang Qian was able to join the fast class when she enrolled at Origin of Flight. From her ability alone, she would have been placed into the slow class.

But Pang Qian didn't know any of this, and just hesitatingly headed into the office. There were seven or eight teachers there, each busy with their own work. Pang Qian walked over to Teacher Cao cautiously. And she asked, "Teacher Cao, you were looking for me?"

"Mm." Teacher Cao turned to look at her. The girl looked a bit nervous, her face was flushed. Teacher Cao thought for a moment, then asked directly, "Pang Qian, I was looking for you because there was something I wanted to ask you about. Before, you almost failed your English and math midterms. Afterwards, your homework and unit test scores both went up, but you never came to ask me any questions. On the final exams, I took note of your results. English, 90 points. Math, 88 points. Compared to before, you made great progress. But it's only been two months."