“Doing practice questions? Are you serious?” Zhang Kai slapped his forehead. “Did someone possess you? You don’t smoke anymore, you don’t sleep in class, and you don’t hang around playing cool. Have you really turned into a model student?!”
“Ever heard of ‘time waits for no one’? If all you do is play around when you’re young, what are you gonna do when you’re old?”
“Keep playing when I’m old…”
“…”
Seeing that Chen Tianyou wasn’t responding, Zhang Kai gave up trying to persuade him and went off on his own with a few others.
They kept studying until noon. Chen Tianyou stretched, then brought Zhang Kai along to the cafeteria.
The high school cafeteria was always crowded. As soon as the bell rang, a wave of students would sprint like athletes toward the cafeteria. The slower ones would end up stuck in the back. Sometimes it took thirty minutes of lining up just to get food.
“Tianyou-ge, what are we eating today?” Zhang Kai strolled with his hands in his pockets, looking like a proper punk.
“Whatever’s fine, I’m not picky.” Chen Tianyou glanced around at the cafeteria full of people. “Let’s just go up front and grab something from the self-service section.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
Zhang Kai didn’t bother lining up and walked straight to the serving window. He squeezed all the way to the front and cut in line. Two boys behind him were about to get angry, but after getting a glare from Zhang Kai, they froze and didn’t dare say a word.
“Tianyou-ge, over here, there’s a spot!” Zhang Kai raised his hand and called out to Chen Tianyou.
“Look, those two troublemakers are cutting the line again!”
“So shameless. They only know how to bully classmates!”
“Why aren’t the security guards doing anything about this?”
“As if they’d dare. Zhang Kai’s dad is one of the school’s shareholders. If they’re not careful, they might even lose their jobs.”
“Seriously?”
“You think I’d lie? Enough, stop talking. Zhang Kai’s looking over here.”
“…”
Hearing the whispers around him, Chen Tianyou’s face darkened.
The students nearby also quietly distanced themselves.
Lowering his head, Chen Tianyou walked toward Zhang Kai.
“Mo-ge, look! Chen Tianyou’s unbelievable, cutting in line like that again!” Xia Qiang gritted his teeth and pointed ahead.
Lin Mo looked up and glanced over, a trace of disdain in his eyes. “That kind of Rich Second-Generation Heir only knows how to throw his weight around with family money. Without that, he’s nothing.”
Lin Mo never thought much of Chen Tianyou. After all, in his previous life, Chen Tianyou had merely been a small stepping stone on his path.
His life was destined to be bright and glorious.
“You’re right, Mo-ge. Why don’t you go teach him a lesson?”
“Well… forget it. Violence doesn’t really solve anything…”
After getting beaten up by a few delinquents that morning, his face still hurt. He wasn’t about to go pick a fight with Chen Tianyou. Besides, Chen Tianyou’s build was clearly stronger than his. If anyone got beaten up, it’d be him.
Soon, Chen Tianyou reached Zhang Kai.
“Tianyou-ge, what do you want to eat? I’ll grab it for—ow!” Zhang Kai yelped suddenly.
Chen Tianyou had grabbed his ear and yanked him away.
“Tianyou-ge, it hurts! What are you doing?!”
“Who told you to cut in line? Go line up at the back!” Chen Tianyou dragged him by the ear.
“But Tianyou-ge, haven’t we always done it this way?” Zhang Kai looked wronged.
“That was before. I’ve figured things out. I want to be a good student now, and you should too. Got it? If not, don’t call me ‘ge’ anymore.”
With that, Chen Tianyou let go of his ear.
“Tianyou-ge, you’re not a bad boy anymore? Now you’re turning into a good boy? This ruins the whole image we worked so hard to build!”
“Good boy, bad boy, who cares. Quit yapping and get to the back.”
Chen Tianyou quickly dragged Zhang Kai to the end of the line.
“Tianyou-ge, look! Isn’t that Cheng Yao, the campus belle Wei-ge is chasing?” Zhang Kai nudged Chen Tianyou with a wink.
Chen Tianyou looked forward.
A graceful figure stood ahead in the line.
Cheng Yao was wearing a white shirt with a dark blue school skirt. Her long, silky black hair flowed down to her waist.
At that moment, she was carefully keeping her distance from the students brushing past her, appearing gentle and delicate.
Cheng Yao was another campus belle, and currently one of the three major delinquents, Zhong Wei, was pursuing her. But compared to Su Ling, Cheng Yao’s family was very poor. She and Lin Mo were childhood friends. Later on, she became Lin Mo’s woman.
Thinking of that, Chen Tianyou couldn’t help cursing the brain-dead plot in his heart.
So the three delinquents were just background props for the protagonist Lin Mo? Each liked a different female lead, and in the end, all three girls ended up with Lin Mo?
Who wouldn’t roll their eyes at such a dumb plot?
“Sorry, classmate, I’m with him.” A boy gave a light smile and cut in front of Cheng Yao.
Cheng Yao frowned. She knew the boy was cutting in, but she didn’t say anything.
Her family was poor, and her mother had always taught her not to argue with others in school. If she could endure, she should.
Because of that, she had grown timid and lacking in confidence.
“Sorry, classmate, I’m with him too.” Another student cut in front of her.
The two of them exchanged looks and laughed.
In this school, cutting in line during meals was common. These students usually targeted those who looked weak. In short, they bullied the soft and feared the tough.
“Hey, what’s your problem? People are cutting in front of you and you’re just letting them? That might be generous of you, but we’re the ones suffering!” said a girl behind Cheng Yao, her braided hair swinging as she spoke with annoyance.
She knew who Cheng Yao was—the campus belle. Her own looks didn’t compare, and she had always been jealous of girls like her. Now that she had a chance, she wasn’t going to let it pass.
“Right, don’t you agree?” the braided girl looked at the students behind her.
“Yeah! She’s right!”
“If you let them cut, we’ll be waiting even longer!”
Stirred up by the braided girl, the people behind started grumbling too.
“I’m sorry… why don’t you take my place in line?” Cheng Yao bit her lip and stepped aside.
“Hmph, at least you’ve got a bit of conscience.” The braided girl sneered and took her spot without hesitation. The others behind followed quickly.
Cheng Yao kept stepping back, until she ended up in front of Chen Tianyou.
“I’m sorry, classmate, you can go ahead of me too.” Her voice was soft and weak, barely audible, as if she was about to cry.