Early in the morning, the classroom was already packed with students making the most of early-morning self-study time to review for the start-of-term exams.
“Can you lend me this notebook again?”
“In the autumn of the Renxu year, on the sixteenth day of the seventh month…”
As soon as the bell rang for the end of self-study, everyone gathered their stationery and headed to their respective examination rooms.
The start-of-term exams lasted for two days, during which everything passed by quite peacefully.
As soon as the final English exam ended, an explosive cheer broke out across the school.
After all, start-of-term exams are far more stressful than final exams because everyone knows deep down just how much, or how little, they actually studied over the vacation.
“Next up, we are returning to normal teaching…” Tonight’s evening self-study session was Chen Feng’s English class. “Everyone, let’s check the answers for the exam we took this afternoon first.”
The evening self-study session on the day exams finish is undoubtedly the most thrilling time of all, as students scramble to grade their own papers using answers flowing in from every direction and estimate their final scores.
Naturally, however, some were happy while others were miserable.
“How is this question supposed to be A?!” Dai Li hissed under his breath.
“Keep it down,” Xu Changxing muttered while checking the answers to his own math test.
“What did you pick?”
“A.”
“Why?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
Dai Li irritably scratched his head, then suddenly remembered something. “Damn it, this question is way too psychotic!”
“Who told you to only pick out the hardest problems for practice?” Xu Changxing teased unconcernedly.
“Classmate Xu Changxing, you are not nearly as cold and gentle as you look, are you?” Dai Li narrowed his eyes dangerously, staring at Xu Changxing, who was busy grading the final big problem next to him.
Seeing that Xu Changxing did not reply, Dai Li asked, “Well?”
“Hmm?” Xu Changxing did not even turn his head as he continued opening his comprehensive science test paper.
“Math, can you get a full score?” Dai Li asked with a grin.
“Hard to say, but most likely.” Xu Changxing turned his head and offered Dai Li a slight smile, as if refuting Dai Li’s earlier remark about him not being gentle.
“What are you smiling at? It makes no sense.” Dai Li figured it out. “Go ahead and laugh at me if you want to mock me. I am so annoyed. I actually missed such a simple question.”
“I was not.” Xu Changxing blurted out.
“Was not what?”
“Nothing. Go write your answers.”
The teachers at Gaoyang No. 2 High School had blindingly high efficiency, grading the tests in a flash and releasing the results just three days after the exams ended.
Even though nobody wanted to face judgment this soon, when Chen Feng walked into the classroom carrying the grade report, anticipation and curiosity still rippled through the room.
“Ahem, this start-of-term exam has reflected a lot of problems…” Chen Feng rambled on for a bit while the students below listened with half an ear.
“In this exam, our class’s overall average is still ranked first, and six of us are in the top ten of the grade, which is very impressive. In particular, I would like to give special recognition to classmate Xu Changxing, who is the top student in the grade this time and scored a perfect score in math.”
“Holy cow, that is insanely badass! He just got here and already stole the Boss’s spot!”
“That is the spot Boss Dai has sat firmly in for a full year. Terrifying.”
Students across the classroom began chatting and whispering all at once.
“Oh, not bad, seatmate,” Dai Li smiled and congratulated Xu Changxing, though his face wore a nonchalant expression.
“A bit fake,” Xu Changxing said, looking at the person grinning mischievously beside him. “If you are unhappy, do not pretend; it is exhausting.”
“Which of your eyes saw me being unhappy?” Dai Li leaned in abruptly, closing the distance between them. “My beautiful, cute, pretty, and generous seatmate took first place. Why would I be unhappy?”
Disgusted, Xu Changxing immediately scooted a couple of yards away. “Get lost.”
“Whoa! Nobody in this world has ever dared to tell me to get lost. You are the first.” Dai Li tilted back the legs of his chair, rocking back and forth while spinning a ballpoint pen in his hand.
“Careful, you will fall.” Before Xu Changxing could finish his sentence, a loud crash echoed beside him as Dai Li and his chair toppled flat onto the floor.
From that day on, a new rumor spread across the grade: the top student and campus bully Dai Li, refusing to accept being dethroned from first place by the transfer student, had picked a fight and ended up knocked flat to the floor.
“Words really are a formidable weapon.” The next afternoon, Dai Li limped his way up to the sixth-floor classroom, only to find the surrounding area packed with students coming to watch the spectacle.
“Behave yourself, will you?” Dai Li’s Alpha roommate, Gu Nansong, helped him up the stairs with a face full of disgust.
“If you are not willing, Gu Nansong, let go of me right now. There are plenty of people lining up to suck up to me,” Dai Li rolled his eyes.
“If it weren’t for Xiao Guo, do you think this young master would be willing to condescend to wait on you?” Gu Nansong snapped right back, refusing to give ground.
“You are still obsessing over Lin Guo? With grades that even dogs would turn their noses up at, your total score is not even as high as my score on a single subject. It will be a miracle if Lin Guo ever looks your way.” Dai Li unleashed a barrage of insults straight to Gu Nansong’s sore spot.
“This young master does not need to study. Once I graduate, I will just go back and inherit the family business.”
“Then why did you even come to school?”
“To see my Xiao Guo.”
“Ew, gross.”
Finally reaching Class 1’s classroom, Dai Li looked through the window to see Xu Changxing sitting quietly at his desk reciting his notes. “Let go. Go back to Class 8.”
“Wait, I have not seen Xiao Guo yet.” Gu Nansong craned his neck inside the doorway of Class 2, searching for Lin Guo’s figure.
Too lazy to deal with Gu Nansong any longer, Dai Li walked straight to his seat. The moment he sat down, he immediately drew a multitude of gazes.
Dai Li waved his hand dismissively to tell them to hurry up and focus on studying, then turned and leaned close to Xu Changxing’s ear. “Seatmate, do you know what everyone outside is saying about the two of us?”
“Do not lean in so close.” Xu Changxing tilted his head slightly to the other side.
“I know you are allergic. I am not even touching you.” Dai Li backed away a little, stretched his injured leg out in front of Xu Changxing, and gave his chair leg a light kick. “You need to take responsibility.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Now everyone is spreading rumors that you are the one who beat me up like this.” Dai Li put on a deeply aggrieved expression. “There is a sports meeting next month, too. How am I supposed to win glory for the class looking like this?”
“You know very well in your heart what the truth is.”
“I do not care. You stole my first-place ranking and almost ruined my title as campus bully. You have to take responsibility for me.”
“Is being a campus bully supposed to be some kind of honorable title?” Xu Changxing forced a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“It sounds pretty awesome, does it not?”
“So childish.” Too lazy to engage with him any longer, Xu Changxing put on his headphones, shutting out Dai Li’s voice entirely.
Fortunately, the person beside him finally quieted down, allowing Xu Changxing to focus once more on the test paper in front of him.
Even though his score this time was fairly decent, there were still several areas worth reflecting on, and Xu Changxing neatly organized every single one of them into his error correction notebook.
The tail end of summer had yet to slip away, and the air conditioning was running at full blast. The buzzing hum of the small electric fan echoed through the classroom, and combined with the bright afternoon sunlight streaming in, it made it all the easier to feel drowsy. That beam of sunlight happened to pierce through the glass, casting a golden glow across the sleeping, side-slumped profile of the person beside him.