Chapter 29: Public Humiliation

Translator: Lonelytree 

Mo Yun never liked greasy and heavily-flavored food, so Aunt Qiu rarely made dishes like braised pork balls. But he was so hungry at that moment that Mo Yun would eat anything placed before him.

However, the first bite itself brought him plenty of surprise. The meatball was soft but not to the state of being a paste, there was still a spring to the minced meat. Furthermore, instead of the usual greasiness, there was a freshness to the flavor profile. He was very impressed.

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Mo Li had placed a lot of consideration into her cooking. If the meatball was made with only pork, the texture would be hard and the meat would get stuck behind the teeth. Plus the meatball would be overly oily. The dish was already deep-fried so that would not make a good dining experience.

Therefore, Mo Li replaced the lard with fish. It would provide a springiness to the meatball without the greasiness. The mackerel skin added a crispy texture, and the fish maw melted on the tongue.

When he finished the supper, Mo Yun considered going upstairs to check on Mo Li but considering she should already be asleep, he thought twice about it. In the end, he only lingered outside her door.

The next morning, Mo Li and Mo Yun woke up for breakfast. Throughout the process, the pair of sibling shared not a single word. Mo Yun studied Mo Li and believed that perhaps his sister had truly learnt her lesson this time.

After all, he had not received any complaint after Mo Li had returned to school. In the past, Mo Li’s class teacher used to call every few days to report on Mo Li’s behavior.

Then again, when Mo Yun asked Aunt Qiu whether she had seen Mo Li work on her studies at home, Aunt Qiu always said no. So Mo Yun also did not really know what going on in his sister’s mind. She wasn’t creating trouble at school, which was a good thing, but she wasn’t paying more attention to her studies either…

Mo Yun sighed under his breath. One of these days, he had to talk to his father. Perhaps Mo Yi could persuade Mo Li to focus more on her studies.

They parted without words. Mo Yun had a driver send Mo Li to school.

…

As soon as she walked into school, Mo Li felt something was different. People were pointing fingers and gossiping behind her. It was a deja vu feeling, it was like she had returned to the first day she came back to school after the car accident.

Mo Li walked past the school bulletin board and saw her name right on top for the result of the IMO mock exam.

When she walked into the classroom, a few girls glanced at her before they continued their conversation. However, their voices were loud enough to ensure that Mo Li could hear them.

“Nowadays, people get so easily cocky that a good result can make someone’s eyes so far up their forehead they wouldn’t be able to see the rest of us anymore.”

“Unlike our Qiao Qing, she always places first but she never acts like this. She is always friendly and down-to-earth.”

“I’m sorry for disappointing everyone this time. I didn’t do good during the mock exam, the school will probably send another person to participate in the IMO.” Qiao Qing commented casually and apologetically.

“Qiao Qing, don’t say that. Everyone makes a mistake once in a while. The road ahead is still long.”

“Have you not heard of the story of the tortoise and the hare? Qiao Qing, you’ll appear victorious in the end. Pride will always be someone’s downfall.”

“Qing Qing, don’t you worry. Miss Sun will get to the bottom of the truth. I’m sure she’ll give us a ready explanation today.”

Before Mo Li came to school, she knew that the old crone, known as Miss Sun, would not leave her bey. Mo Li felt quite helpless. It was not her fault that the old crone didn’t know how to be a good teacher. Mo Li had inadvertently stepped on the old crone’s toes yesterday so today she would figure out a way to take revenge on Mo Li as old witches were prone to do.

The old crone walked into class and announced, “Class, today we are going to learn about morality. It is never the action of a moral person to preach falsehood and lie…” From that moment on, Mo Li knew she was not going to have it easy that day. As she expected, the old crone soon shouted loudly, “Mo Li, would you please stand up?!”

Hearing that, Mo Li sighed internally. With her head lowered, she stood up. The old crone’s high heels clicked and clacked as she walked down the podium and strode towards Mo Li. She then slapped the IMO mock paper on the table before Mo Li. “Our precious Miss Mo Li sure had her chance to shine yesterday. If you’re so good at math, why did you hand in empty papers in your previous exams? Did you leave them empty for me to answer them for you?”

Mo Li remained silent. She knew anything she said would be used against her so she decided to keep her mouth shut.

Teacher Sun lifted her chin when Mo Li did not answer, “Do you know why your family has named you Mo Li?”

Mo Li could be translated as jasmine. Based on what Mo Li read from the original story, Mo Yi didn’t specifically assign any meaning to the name of his children. He merely flipped through the dictionary and picked any character that he preferred.

The old crone answered, “In Chinese culture, jasmine represents feminine kindness, grace and gratitude. But take a good look at yourself, you have none of those! Just how big of a disappointment you must be to your parents!” The old crone got fired up thinking about the humiliation she had suffered yesterday thanks to Mo Li.

On her part, Mo Li thought this person was quite interesting. She must have done a lot of homework just to come up with this whole speech to mock and berate her. If only she could have placed the same amount of effort and inspiration into her job. The old crone’s hands shook from emotions and she slammed into Mo Li’s table.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Is it because you don’t think your teacher even deserve a response now? Perfect, just perfect!”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. A young teacher stood at the door and said, “Teacher Sun, Professor Tao sent me to come look for you. He wishes to talk to you and Mo Li. There is something he hopes to discuss.”