weddingnovel Chapter 39 French is so good!
Chapter 39 French is so good!
Hearing the boy's words, Zeke almost burst out laughing, thinking to himself, "No wonder he thinks the lessons here are so simple."
He hadn't even noticed until he pointed it out that the school completely lacked the anti-human imperial units commonly used in American society; it was all metric units like cm³, m/s, and kg, which seemed quite familiar to him!
He picked up his pen and quickly wrote down the solution and answer in his exercise book.
"I'm done."
The boy's mouth dropped open in disbelief, and he blurted out instinctively, "Shit, so fast? You must have filled it in randomly!"
The math teacher walked over and picked up Zik's exercise book.
A moment later, the teacher smiled with satisfaction: "Very good! Qi Ke's answer is completely correct, and his thinking is clear, his steps are concise, and he's so fast! Excellent! It seems that Qi Ke has a very solid foundation in mathematics and excellent logical thinking."
The other students in the class immediately looked at Qi Ke as if he were a monster, their eyes filled with surprise and doubt.
The students who had been whispering about Qi Ke earlier all fell silent.
The arrogant boy's face flushed red and then turned pale. He lowered his head in embarrassment and dared not speak again.
A math class ended quickly, and after this little "contest," Qi Ke's persona as a cool and aloof academic genius was firmly established.
During the break, several classmates came over to greet him, asking about his life in New York, and some even inquired about his relationship with Casablanca. They were all very enthusiastic and friendly.
Of course, Zik simply answered that he was a musician, without mentioning that he got into the record company through connections.
Even if these well-informed teenagers have guessed his origins pretty accurately, there's no need for them to shout it from the rooftops.
Immediately afterwards, the second French lesson began. This time, Zik was completely dumbfounded. Apart from knowing the phrase "boo-boo," he had almost no French foundation. As soon as the teacher started speaking, it was all gibberish, and the speed of the speech was so fast that he couldn't understand a word.
The teacher was lecturing on the podium, while Zik was dozing off in his seat, his head nodding and his eyelids getting heavier and heavier.
Soon his cheek was pressed against the cool tabletop, and he secretly wondered if he could talk to Neil or Larry and ask them to switch to a normal English school.
French sounds like bird language, not only because the pronunciation is tricky, but also because all nouns are forcibly divided into feminine and masculine, and articles and adjectives have to "change color" according to the nouns. If you remember one word wrong, you lose the whole thing.
What's even more disheartening is that the gender of most words has no discernible pattern, and can only be memorized by rote.
It's so difficult to learn, it's torture.
I thought that dressing up as an American would mean I'd never have to learn a foreign language again, but it seems I still can't escape it!
Just as Qi Ke was biting his pen and mentally giving up, the classroom door was gently pushed open, a soft footstep sound came, and a late girl walked in.
The girl was short and of average build, with shoulder-length, smooth blonde hair that had a slight curl at the ends, and her cheeks still had a bit of baby fat.
But upon closer inspection, one will find that her features are actually quite exquisite, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, a straight nose, and well-defined lips. However, these features are concealed by her cold expression, making her less charming and more composed than other girls her age.
As soon as she entered the classroom, she attracted everyone's attention.
The reason was simple: she was dressed entirely in men's clothing—a suit, trousers, and a white shirt. Quite unconventional.
"Who told her she could pull off menswear?" a well-dressed boy scoffed, staring at Judy's ill-fitting suit. "It looks like it was stolen from her dad's closet."
"She's so weird," a girl next to her said, feigning nausea without trying to hide her voice. "That pimple is practically about to explode. How can she even show her face in public? It's disgusting."
"Oh, Scarlett, don't say that."
The other girls covered their mouths, pretending to sympathize, but their eyes were full of disgust.
Zik heard it clearly; it was obvious that the girl was unpopular, or even bullied.
Those seemingly casual complaints and sarcasm conceal the most straightforward malice of teenagers.
He stared at the girl's face, feeling as if he had seen her somewhere before. He tried to recall where he had seen her before, but he couldn't remember her name. The more he couldn't remember, the more curious he became, and his gaze couldn't help but linger on her.
Coincidentally, Christie, who was sitting next to him, nudged him with her elbow: "Hey, Zeke, are you staring? Is it that big of a deal? She's just a girl dressed as a man, what's so interesting about her?"
Christy was the girl who lent him her slide rule and greeted him in the last class; she was outgoing and friendly.
"Who is that? She looks familiar, but I just can't remember. Do you know her?" Zike asked in a low voice, snapping out of his reverie.
"Her name is Judy, and she's an actress. She's been in several movies, haven't you seen them? She played Iris in 'Taxi Driver,' the girl Robert De Niro rescued."
"Ah, so it's her." Zike suddenly realized.
He was so focused on Spiel Shepherd when he watched the movie that he didn't pay much attention to the little girl, never expecting that she would be in the same school as him.
He glanced at Judy again, thinking to himself: She doesn't look as pretty in person as she does on screen... It's only been two years, right? She seems to be starting to lose her looks.
Despite his complaints, this was the first time he had ever seen a celebrity appear in a movie theater, and he still felt a sense of novelty.
Judy lowered her head, ignoring the whispers and taunts, and walked straight to the empty seat next to Christie. She sat down, placed her backpack on the corner of the table, and did so quickly and quietly.
Christie immediately leaned over: "Judy, let me introduce you. This is Zeke, the new transfer student from New York. I already consider him my friend, he's super cool~"
Judy nodded slightly to him as a greeting.
The French teacher resumed the lesson, but Christie continued to chatter away, daydreaming and whispering to Judy. She was behaving like a complete academic failure.
Despite her rebellious style, Judy was very attentive in class, constantly taking notes in her notebook. When Christie occasionally interrupted her, she would just listen patiently and occasionally respond with a word.
Christie, getting carried away, said, "By the way, Judy, Zeke is a musician too. Maybe he can help you. Haven't you been worried about your singing career?"
"Really? You're a singer?" Judy's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this, and she quickly turned to look at Zeke.
She deliberately lowered her voice, making it very deep. Qi Ke thought she was imitating a boy's voice, probably because she didn't want to be seen as too easy to bully.
"I guess so," Zik shrugged. "Right now, I'm mainly writing songs. I haven't released an album yet. But I'm a songwriter for my own songs, so I'm considered an industry insider."
He didn't think there was anything wrong with girls wearing boys' clothes. Tomboys are a trend, and every public school, even every class, has a few of them.
Tatum O'Neill, whom he had just seen in the photo in the principal's office, was a representative of this type of girl.
"Judy released a bilingual album last year, combining French and English, which was the soundtrack to a French film. It was released in Europe, but the record companies in the United States were not very optimistic about the album."
Christy, who seemed to be Judy's only friend, offered to explain on her behalf.
Judy nodded slightly, her eyes filled with anticipation as she looked at Zeke, and asked softly:
"Do you have time to listen to my practice? I need some advice, especially from industry professionals of the same age, who understand the tastes of young people better than those old-school producers."
"A bilingual album? Wow, are you interested in singing too?" Zik didn't answer and casually changed the subject.
He wouldn't bother with something that doesn't benefit him, and she's not some great beauty.
"It was my mom who wanted me to try being a singer," Judy sighed softly. "You know, child stars have to start thinking about transitioning when they get to my age. My contract with Disney is expiring, and I just finished filming the last movie under my contract."
"What you think is more important, isn't it?" Zeke shrugged. He felt that American child stars were actually quite pitiful, living under the spotlight from a young age and being forced to take on adult responsibilities from childhood.
You have to learn to cater to the market and the audience; you never have the chance to be a protected child, and you can't even fully control your own life choices.
"Me?" Judy looked at Zeke with some surprise, paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "I actually want to be a director in the future. To control my own works, to make the things I want to make. I don't want to play those childish little girl roles anymore."
"Tsk, that's quite a grand dream," Qi Ke teased. "Then why are you even thinking about singing? Why not just focus on learning filmmaking and gaining experience? Why waste time on something you don't like?"
"Although I don't like being treated like a doll, and I don't like having my life planned out for me, since I've tried the path of a singer, I still want to achieve good results." Judy's tone was firm. "I can't just end it like this, otherwise I'll be too unwilling to accept it."
"Competitive, huh?"
"Ha~ I guess so," Judy laughed, her tone much more relaxed. She raised an eyebrow at Zeke's desk. "Are you free? I'll be practicing singing in the music room during lunch. Can you tutor me in music and give me some advice? I'll tutor you in French, how about that? Your notes, it's obvious you didn't understand a single word."
Qi Ke followed her gaze to his blank notebook and couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.
He guessed that the girl must be really unpopular. In American schools, lunchtime is one of the most common times for bullying. Which table you sit at and who you sit with can lead to cliques and hierarchical divisions.
Judy simply stopped going to the cafeteria and hid in the music room, which was really quite pitiful.
As Zeke hesitated about whether hanging out with her would cause him to be caught in the crossfire and affect his relationships at school, Christie offered her a helping hand: "Judy got A+ in literature and writing, and her French is practically her native language."
These words made Zeke's eyes light up, and he made a decision instantly.
This deal is quite a bargain. He originally wanted to get free access to the school's musical instrument practice, and if he could also get free French tutoring from a top student, he wouldn't have to worry about French class anymore. Why not?
He nodded immediately: "Deal, it's settled then. I'll come find you during lunchtime."
The morning classes passed quickly. Zeke followed Christie to the restaurant, queued up to get some food to fill their stomachs, and took the opportunity to gather information from this outgoing girl.
Christie, like a tour guide, pointed out the students in the restaurant and introduced them to Zeke one by one:
"That blond guy, the one you had a conflict with earlier, his name is Sam, he's Jason Robards' son. His dad just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, he's quite famous in Hollywood, that's why he's so arrogant."
"And that girl wearing sunglasses, she's the daughter of Clive Davis, the head of Arista Records..."
"That melancholy-looking Persian boy, I heard his father is Iran's oil minister, a member of the Pahlavi dynasty... his family is incredibly wealthy, but lately he seems to be troubled by something and hasn't been talking much."
As she spoke, she pointed to a little boy surrounded by bodyguards not far away: "See that? That little brat is from the Getty family, one of the richest families in the world, oil tycoons."
Zik was stunned, and almost dropped the hamburger he had just picked up.
Following Christie's finger, it felt like the little kid was exuding the smell of money.
He finally understood that President Neil Bogart was truly farsighted, visionary, shrewd, and capable of killing multiple birds with one stone!
The biggest benefit of this school is not its high-quality teachers or flexible class hours, but the students themselves!
This isn't about sending him here to learn the law (and suffer sins); it's about throwing him into a top-tier circle of privileged kids!
Pick any student at this school; they might be the niece of a famous director, the daughter of a record company CEO, a member of an oil tycoon's family, or even a descendant of royalty.
Every student is a potential top-tier network of connections.
In an instant, all my previous aversion and resistance to French class vanished.
French is great! I need to learn French!