"Shh, shh, shh..." The only sound in the classroom was the clear, rhythmic scratching of pencils across paper. The afternoon sun of September streamed obliquely through the glass windows, casting bright patches of light on the open notebooks. Tiny dust particles floated in the air, mingled with chalk dust and the faint smell of ink from old books—the unique atmosphere of a new semester, a mix of restlessness and discipline. On the podium, the homeroom teacher, Wang Chunli, sat upright, a red pen between her fingers, her gaze like a searchlight, slowly sweeping over the lowered heads below. Her gaze was sharp.
