4 – If you’re capable, get into the top ten of the grade
Left with no other choice, Xin Jushang could only take her book and walk out of the classroom. Zhou Yuchuan, with his hands in his pockets, trailed behind her in a carefree, almost sloppy manner.
Thus, the two of them left the classroom under the watchful eyes of the entire class.
“Everyone else, quiet! Shut up!”
The classroom had still been buzzing with hushed whispers, but the teacher’s sharp shout instantly silenced them.
Outside the classroom, they stood side by side at the door. However, Xin Jushang’s eyes were filled with utter despair, while Zhou Yuchuan appeared completely indifferent, even inexplicably excited.
“Deskmate,” Zhou Yuchuan said, crossing his arms behind his head and staring at her with a half-smile, “I didn’t expect you to be so interesting.”
Xin Jushang lowered her head and flipped through her English book, pretending not to hear him.
If it weren’t for that pig Zhou Yuchuan, she wouldn’t have been unjustly implicated earlier.
So, she had absolutely no desire to engage with him now.
“Xin Jushang.”
Zhou Yuchuan began calling her name.
But she ignored him.
“Xin Jushang.”
…
He tirelessly called her name over a dozen times. Xin Jushang finally couldn’t take it anymore and turned to glare at him, her tone clearly annoyed. “Shut up.”
Zhou Yuchuan looked as if he had been deeply wronged. “You actually yelled at me.”
Xin Jushang: …
When had she yelled at him? Why was this guy so fond of stirring up trouble?
She turned back around and continued reading her book, refusing to pay any more attention to Zhou Yuchuan.
“Xin Jushang.”
The classmate surnamed Zhou spoke up again, unwilling to back down.
“Spit it out if you have something to say.” Her patience had been completely worn down by this living ancestor, Zhou Yuchuan.
“I just got dumped.”
Hearing this expected news, Xin Jushang felt no ripple of emotion inside, but she still responded in a sympathetic tone. “My condolences.”
The boy’s voice dropped noticeably this time, carrying a hint of caution. “What I mean is, you’re now qualified to like me.”
Actually, there was another sentence Zhou Yuchuan didn’t have the nerve to say out loud: “Although I might not necessarily like you back.”
He was worried it would hurt Xin Jushang’s fragile, sensitive little heart.
After hearing that heartfelt confession, Xin Jushang nearly fainted from anger, but she managed to maintain her composure.
Having been pursued and admired by numerous boys since childhood, this was the first time Xin Jushang had witnessed a boy brazenly spouting such nonsense right in front of her.
All thanks to her mango-allergy-induced face.
Xin Jushang took a deep breath, her mind racing. Between the options of “brushing him off to end the conversation” and “desperately explaining that she didn’t like him,” she ultimately chose the former—
“Okay, thank you. But could you let me have some time alone to calm down?”
Hearing this, Zhou Yuchuan assumed Xin Jushang was simply too overwhelmed and needed time to collect herself. So, he quickly nodded obediently.
Only then did Xin Jushang finally get a moment of peace.
The next morning.
Xin Jushang noticed that the group leader hadn’t collected her homework for various subjects, so she had to personally go and hand it in.
The group leader for her section was a very earnest boy. When he saw Xin Jushang approaching him, his face was filled with unease.
“I’m sorry, it’s not that I didn’t want to collect it, but yesterday the English teacher…” The boy’s voice grew softer and softer. “Yesterday in class, she told all the subject representatives not to accept your homework.”
Xin Jushang froze, unable to stop herself from asking, “Why?”
From a young age, she had been doted on by teachers of all subjects, treated like the moon surrounded by stars. For the first time, she genuinely felt the malice from a teacher.
And this malice came without reason, even somewhat inexplicable.
The boy questioned by Xin Jushang lowered his head even further, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum. “Because you talked back to the English teacher yesterday, and she was very angry.”
After hearing this explanation, Xin Jushang thought for a moment and asked the boy in front of her again, “Then why did you collect Zhou Yuchuan’s homework?”
“Uh…” The group leader remained silent, nervously twisting his hands together.
The girl sitting next to the boy couldn’t stand it any longer and raised her voice to respond to Xin Jushang—
“Can Zhou Yuchuan even be compared to you? He transferred from the science experimental class of No. 1 High School. What are his grades like, and what are yours? If you have the ability, try ranking in the top ten of the grade so the teacher will respect you!”
Halfway through, the girl flashed a mocking smile. “You came from No. 3 High School, so your foundation is weak to begin with. Ranking in the top ten of the grade is as difficult as climbing to the sky for you. Why don’t you set a small goal for yourself first? How about aiming for the top two hundred in the grade?”
In her opinion, students from No. 3 High School couldn’t even make it into the top six hundred at Hengmu High School.
“Thank you, but I think I can make it into the top three,” Xin Jushang replied calmly.
Her tone was eerily composed, as if she were stating a simple fact.
But the girl in front of her was not at all appreciative. She laughed so hard she trembled, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. While laughing, she turned to the students in front and behind her to relay the story:
“Oh my god! I’m dying of laughter! The new student from No. 3 High School actually said she’s going to rank in the top three of the grade next time!”
Upon hearing this, the surrounding students burst into laughter.
Xin Jushang didn’t understand what was so funny. She wasn’t joking.
Just then, Zhou Yuchuan happened to return from the restroom. As he passed by Xin Jushang, he leaned in curiously and asked, “Deskmate, what are they laughing about?”
Xin Jushang shook her head.
Zhou Yuchuan glanced down and noticed the stack of homework she was holding in her arms. Frowning, he asked, “Did the group leader not collect your homework?”
Xin Jushang lowered her gaze and softly replied, “Mm,” before carrying her homework back to her seat.
Still unsure of what had happened, Zhou Yuchuan followed Xin Jushang back to their seats. He then wrote a note and passed it to Xu Zhiyan, who was sitting in front of him.
In his memory, Xu Zhiyan seemed to get along fairly well with Xin Jushang.
A moment later, he received a note back from Xu Zhiyan.
The note explained that after the teacher, whom they called “Shitai,” had sent Zhou Yuchuan and Xin Jushang out of the classroom yesterday, she had announced to the class that the class representatives were no longer allowed to collect Xin Jushang’s homework. She had also made snide remarks about students from No. 3 High School, saying they not only had poor grades but also lacked manners.
At the end of the note, Xu Zhiyan had drawn an angry expression and added, “I think Jushang is really wronged! Shitai is going too far!”
After reading the note, Zhou Yuchuan’s expression instantly turned cold.
Without a word, he crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it into his desk drawer.
Zhou Yuchuan directly picked up Xin Jushang’s homework from her desk, stood up, and strode toward the teacher’s podium.
Placing both hands on the podium, his entire demeanor was chillingly cold.
Usually, Zhou Yuchuan carried himself with a carefree, frivolous air, but his sudden seriousness made him seem somewhat intimidating.
…As if he were about to pick a fight.
He slammed the chalkboard eraser heavily onto the podium, looking down at the students below with a raised eyebrow, exuding an air of arrogance from head to toe—
“All subject representatives, step forward so I can get to know you.”