Shi Xuan escorted Ji Yan all the way to Class 7, ready to deliver a few ruthless warnings in front of the entire class on Ji Yan’s behalf. Unluckily, looking through the back window, he saw Cheng Tianfu handing out physics exam papers at the podium.
Shi Xuan’s physics score had just come back this morning: 21 points.
His parents had already been notified.
Brother Yan, how about next time I…
It’s fine, you can head back.
His tone was actually so gentle…
Shi Xuan almost burst into tears of gratitude. Before he even had time to pledge his loyalty, Ji Yan was already walking toward the front door of the classroom.
Seeing Ji Yan, Cheng Tianfu, like the students below, merely glanced at him before continuing to hand out the test papers.
Chi Yao, 82… How did your grades slip so much? Cheng Tianfu frowned. Come to my office after class.
Sun Yangcheng, 93.
Jing Haoyu, 89.
Seeing that the teacher had no intention of stopping, Ji Yan tried to interrupt.
Excuse me, Teacher, may I come in now?
The entire classroom fell into an eerie silence. Everyone’s eyes locked onto him as if they were looking at a monster.
Ji Yan knew that his behavior was severely out of character, but he truly couldn’t bring himself to ignore the teacher and just walk straight into the class.
Cheng Tianfu was the first to react, nodding at him, though shock still lingered in his eyes.
Ji Yan scanned the room and noticed that only the two seats in the back row by the window were empty, so he walked in that direction.
In the midst of the dead silence, someone quietly nudged their seatmate and whispered, Did someone piss him off again?
Don’t know. Shen Que isn’t even in class; who is he performing for…
Ever since his freshman year of high school, Ji Yan had been a prominent figure at school.
He was good-looking, wealthy, and possessed a top-tier brain for obsessive romance.
If Shen Que ignored him, he would post a melodramatic essay on his Moments for half the day.
If Shen Que smiled at someone, he would block that person outside the school gates after class.
Once, someone who didn’t believe in rumors handed Shen Que a love letter; Ji Yan subjected them directly to the threaten, intimidate, harass triple combo, driving the person to transfer schools.
In front of Shen Que, however, he turned back into an innocent little lamb. His overly delicate and forced affectations often gave onlookers goosebumps.
Yet Shen Que somehow never noticed his childhood friend’s double-faced nature and treated Ji Yan with utmost care, which was truly astonishing.
Walking under the scrutiny of various gazes to the back row, Ji Yan instantly recognized his seat.
He sat down and calmly surveyed the books randomly piled on his desk.
New. A kind of new that had never been polluted by the filthy fingers of humankind.
Ji Yan was momentarily dazed.
Back then, he had gotten into an ordinary local university with high marks, which ultimately left him with regrets. He hadn’t expected to actually get a chance to start over.
Zhong Hao, who sat in front of Ji Yan, received the test paper passed down from the row ahead. He glanced at his score, then lightly bumped his seatmate’s elbow to invite her to admire it.
On the paper, there was only a bright red 7 with two double horizontal lines underneath.
Except for the multiple-choice questions, which were all blind guesses, everything else was left completely blank.
The teacher hadn’t even bothered to mark them right or wrong.
Cheng Tianfu had completely given up on him. In fact, almost all the teachers of Class 7 had reached a consensus: they must not interfere with Ji Yan’s destiny, or else they would suffer a massive backlash.
Their greatest wish, besides having the entire class get accepted into prestigious universities, was simply that Ji Yan wouldn’t stir up any trouble during their classes.
Shen Que walked up to the classroom door at this moment.
Before he could speak, Cheng Tianfu tapped the exam paper he had set aside separately.
Full score again this time. Not bad, keep it up! He completely ignored why Shen Que was late.
Zhong Hao suddenly let out a weak, agonized wail.
Heavens! Why are you so unfair! Money, looks, brains- you have to give me at least one of them!
His seatmate, Chen Xiaojing, patted his shoulder in comfort. It’s fine, you have very precious qualities too, like the excellent traits of hard work and diligence.
A certain someone dropped dead right at his desk.
Shen Que brought his test paper back to his seat and glanced at Ji Yan’s score.
Not bad, improved by 6 points.
Ji Yan really wanted to switch seats.
Chen Xiaojing lay on the desk, half-covering her face with her hand while winking at Zhong Hao, whispering in an extremely low voice, See that? He can praise even that. Unbelievable.
Zhong Hao: After all, in his eyes, anything Ji Yan does is good…
After all the test papers were distributed, Cheng Tianfu leaned against the desk and sighed.
This time, Class 1’s average score was only 0.8 lower than ours. I made a bet with Old Wang: whichever class loses this final exam has to fetch breakfast for the other class’s students for a whole month next semester.
Ah… No way!
You can’t do this to us, Old Cheng!
The reflection on Cheng Tianfu’s glasses revealed a hint of slyness. He picked up his test paper and tapped it with his finger.
Alright, let’s review the questions.
Question 1? Cheng Tianfu scanned the whole class.
Okay, pass. Question 2?
Not until a major question about magnetic induction intensity was reached did anyone speak up.
Cheng Tianfu didn’t waste any words and immediately drew a schematic diagram on the blackboard.
Ji Yan quite liked this pace of teaching.
He had already skimmed through the exam paper just now. It was indeed difficult; otherwise, it wouldn’t deserve to be used in a top-tier class, but fortunately, he hadn’t stopped tutoring during his years in college, so he still remembered these knowledge points.
For the time being, Ji Yan didn’t start writing down corrections for his wrong answers. After all, the scene of a 7-point slacker suddenly studying diligently would be extremely bizarre; he needed to find an opportunity to make things look reasonable.
For instance, establishing a persona of someone who repented and turned over a new leaf.
When the bell rang at the end of class, many people were still buried in their work, while Ji Yan secretly pulled out his phone and opened the front camera.
This face was actually very similar to his original one, except the skin was fairer and the bridge of his nose seemed slightly straighter.
He had a narrower face, but his eyes were relatively long. Coupled with slightly upturned outer corners, a closer look made him resemble an obedient yet slightly scheming fox.
Unfortunately, the original host had terrible aesthetic taste. Simply because Shen Que had said he disliked people who were too childish, he had grown a wolf-cut pompadour and dyed it an equally melancholy blue.
With his temperament, he couldn’t pull off such a grand hairstyle at all, and the dye job made it look utterly mismatched.
At that moment, a muted group message popped up on his phone.
The group name was Bed Affairs Research Institute.
Xue Zhang: Fuck, just woke up, my head is aching to death. @Everyone, where are we meeting tonight?
Shen Junchi: Still drinking? If you lose your life, how are you gonna go three hundred rounds with your beloved brother tonight?
Xue Zhang: Isn’t the weekend coming up? Just indulging a bit! Besides, it’s not like you don’t know: the more I drink, the harder I go.
Shen Junchi: Fuck, stop boasting. As if I don’t know your attributes; if your family’s brother hears this, he’ll definitely destroy you tonight!
Besides Ji Yan, there were three other people in the group. All were wealthy, playboy types who shared the original host’s foul tastes.
Ji Yan couldn’t bear to look directly at their crude words. Scrolling up through the messages, he actually managed to find the cause and effect behind the original host’s Photoshopped bed photo.
The chat history was from last night.
Xue Zhang: Brother Yan, you guys didn’t battle all night, right? How come you’re not even replying to our messages?
Shen Junchi: Didn’t you say you were gonna take a picture of Shen Que’s abs? Also, also, how big is he down there really?
Ji Yan: So curious? Want to come to my bed and take a look?
Xue Zhang: Holy shit, you guys actually slept together! I want to see the bed photo, the bed photo!
Ji Yan: Haven’t you ever watched porn before? So starved?
Xue Zhang and the others continued to beg, and the corners of the original host’s mouth couldn’t stop curving upward.
Ji Yan: Fine, I’ll give you guys some benefits!
A few minutes later, Ji Yan posted an explicit photo into the group.
sensitivity was low and the image was blurry, but one could tell who the protagonists were.
On a large bed, the two entangled figures wore very little clothing, with the blanket only covering the parts that needed to be concealed.
Ji Yan was wearing thin pajamas, loosely revealing his collarbone with a dazed look in his eyes, while Shen Que appeared to be fast asleep, his impressive abs faintly visible.
Since Shen Que rarely agreed to take photos with him, the original host had long mastered divine Photoshop skills; his private album was full of couples’ photos that made people’s blood boil.
The group was quiet for a few minutes before being spammed with various comments like Badass, Holy shit, and Eating so well.
Looking at the photo where Shen Que’s neck bore a clear trace of PS erasure from the clone tool, Ji Yan closed his eyes.
He finally believed that when a person is flattered for too long, they really do turn into an idiot.
Still savoring it?
Ji Yan opened his eyes abruptly, only to see Shen Que resting his chin on one hand, looking at him.
This time he didn’t feel like Shen Que was mocking him. The more he understood, the more he realized that Shen Que was actually being quite polite to him.
He locked his phone and felt a bit embarrassed: Don’t worry, I definitely won’t do it again.
Definitely won’t be so careless as to get caught by me again?
Ji Yan had said this kind of thing no less than ten times; Shen Que didn’t believe a single word now.
The original host’s persona was deeply rooted in people’s minds, and Ji Yan knew he couldn’t change his view with just a word or two, but it was still necessary to express his attitude.
I will find an opportunity to clarify things to them.
Clarify how?
Explain to them that I was just being a pathetic simping idiot before, that those bed photos were all Photoshopped, and that I never slept with you at all. Is that okay?
Shen Que raised an eyebrow, and his finger tapped the audio playback button on his phone.
I will find an opportunity to clarify things to them… I never slept with you at all. Is that okay?
Ji Yan: … This guy is an absolute dog!
When the playback ended, Shen Que waved his phone: You’d better do as you say, otherwise it might very well appear at your birthday party next week.
Don’t worry, you won’t get that chance!
Ji Yan opened WeChat and quickly drafted a Moments post.
Realizing my mistakes, I will no longer waste my high school years; focusing on learning, the rest of my time is solely for my future!
Post. Visible to everyone.
Shen Que raised his eyebrows slightly. He hadn’t expected Ji Yan to be so direct, nor had he expected him to write a post that was… somewhat cultured in such a short time.
Soon, numerous likes and drama-seeking comments popped up underneath this post.
At the same time, a class group chat without Ji Yan and Shen Que also exploded.
Peking University or Bust: Image.jpg
Peking University or Bust: What does Young Master mean by this post? Turning over a new leaf?
Sleepy Every Day: Don’t get excited, I think he’s just throwing a periodic tantrum. It’s not like he hasn’t said angry words before.
Hikoy: But this time the style is really different from before; it doesn’t sound like something Ji Yan could say at all.
Add Some Chili: Who can’t search for quotes online!
Ji Yan didn’t reply to any of the drama-seeking comments in the comment section. Instead, he posted a comment directly under his own post.
Thank you all for your concern. In the past, I wasted my prime youth on some unimportant people and things. From now on, my heart is only set on studying. Let us encourage each other!
Unimportant people…
Shen Que narrowed his eyes, his expression turning somewhat intrigued.
Unexpectedly, this was not the end. Ji Yan opened the Bed Affairs Research Institute group chat again, scrolled up, tagged that bed photo, and replied.
Everyone, this photo was Photoshopped by me. I never slept with Shen Que. It was my unrequited love from beginning to end, and he has no interest in me whatsoever. I’m sorry for deceiving everyone before!
The group chat remained quiet for a long time before Xue Zhang’s message finally popped up.
Xue Zhang: Brother Yan, were you kidnapped?
Soon, more group messages and private messages flooded in.
Ji Yan didn’t reply to a single one. He simply held his phone screen up in front of Shen Que’s eyes.
How’s this? Is this level of clarification acceptable? If you’re not satisfied, I can explain a bit more.
Shen Que looked past the phone screen into Ji Yan’s eyes. There was no anger, no pouting, and no stupidly unhideable scheming.
The other party merely met his gaze with an unprecedentedly calm expression, as if confirming an ordinary, everyday matter with him.
Impossible…
A person like Ji Yan, who was brimming with vanity and extremely conceited, couldn’t possibly admit his mistakes so easily, nor could he easily destroy the image he had tried so hard to maintain in front of everyone.
Especially in a social circle like this, driven by rivalry and status.
Shen Que’s gaze darkened slightly, and he retracted his eyes.
Yin Zeking sent a message.
Philip: What’s up with Xiao Yan’s Moments post? Did you break his heart again?
Shen Que didn’t intend to reply, but the other party sent another message.
Philip: As for the surprise I prepared for him, you didn’t leak it, right!
S.: Mm.
Philip: That’s good.
Philip: I can’t even imagine, if this surprise were prepared by you, how happy he’d be.
Philip: Speaking of which, you really don’t have the slightest feelings for him, right? Otherwise, I’d feel guilty!
A few seconds later.
S.: None.
Philip: Then I can rest easy!
When the second bell rang, Cui Xuelin walked into the classroom in high heels, and everyone quieted down.
What’s the noise? You guys almost tore the roof off! Her gaze swept around the classroom, her glasses glinting coldly.
Subject representatives, hand out the weekly test papers. Standard rule: copy every wrong question three times.
Groans immediately erupted below.
Holy crap, isn’t that too harsh? The test was so hard this time; I got so many wrong! Zhong Hao looked ready to cry.
Chen Xiaojing sighed, mimicking Cui Xuelin’s tone: Hard? Is it hard to compete with tens of millions of people in the College Entrance Exam? Is it hard to repeat a year if you don’t get into college?
Hearing this classic line, Ji Yan couldn’t help but chuckle.
Chen Xiaojing turned around in shock and suspicion. The smile on Ji Yan’s face hadn’t faded yet. Seeing her face filled with surprise, he quickly explained: Don’t misunderstand, I just thought your impression was very accurate.
The youth’s smile was clear and gentle, completely unlike the Ji Yan who had never looked them in the eye before.
Chen Xiaojing stood frozen with her mouth slightly open for a few seconds before slowly turning her head back.
She nudged Zhong Hao with her elbow. Zhong Hao’s level of shock at this moment was no less than Chen Xiaojing’s.
A moment later, a folded slip of paper was passed over.
Chen Xiaojing opened it.
Sister Jing, did your dorm play Pen Spirit yesterday and accidentally summon a ghost onto him?