Chapter 17

Before the end of evening self-study, each class received the examination room allocation list.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't rush to see it. His grades were pretty stable. He'd done well in the third exam room, almost made it to the fourth, and hadn't taken the exam anywhere else. Lu Bai, on the other hand, dove into the crowd to see it right after school, then trotted back out a short while later.

"Our exam rooms are next to each other, Tian'er. So maybe we've been in the same exam room before?" Lu Bai reached out and pulled Zhang Xiaotian up from his seat, dragging him to the notice board at the door to look at the assignment list together. "Look, I'm in exam room three, and you're in exam room four."

Zhang Xiaotian carefully checked his watch. He was in the last seat in the fourth exam room. He glanced at the other students' exam rooms and did some mental calculations. There were thirty people in each exam room, and fewer than fifty in the class. His last performance had been subpar, but he'd been in the top eighty before. While he couldn't say he had it in his bag, he couldn't say he had no chance either. Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaotian relaxed a bit.

"We must have taken the same exam in the same room before." Lu Bai continued to ramble, "If I had known we would be deskmates, I would have gotten to know you sooner."

Zhang Xiaotian smiled and said, "It's not too late to get to know each other now."

"Li An must have thought Xiao Tian was one of those people who paid to come on a 'tour'." Yin Li had just finished speaking when she saw Li An not far away, and he deliberately spoke a little louder:

"Xiaotian was able to be in the fourth examination room, which means he had good grades. I don't know who was so sure that he wouldn't stay in our class."

Li An didn't know whether he heard it or not, as he couldn't see his face clearly from the distance.

"Actually, being in a different class isn't that big of a deal. He's just relying on his class teacher's fame and the fact that his subject teachers are all very capable. He really thinks it's his own ability." Yin Li grumbled softly, and Lu Bai nodded. "That's right, he might not even be able to beat Tian'er in the exam."

With over forty students in the class generally in the top eighty, Class 1 is actually quite impressive. Zhang Xiaotian looked at Li An, who happened to look up, then met his gaze and then lowered it awkwardly. Zhang Xiaotian saw it all, feeling no other emotion.

"Are you really not unhappy?" Lu Bai stood beside him and asked him in a low voice, "Li An is always looking for trouble on purpose. He has nothing to do."

"No, I didn't take it seriously." Zhang Xiaotian shook his head. Seeing Lu Bai listening attentively to him, he suddenly wanted to tease him. "Anyway, I can only endure it for two years at most."

"at most?"

"Yeah, what if I suddenly don't do well in an exam... Lu Bai, don't strangle me!"

Lu Bai snorted loudly before letting him go: "What a joke! I've never worried about this even though I'm so careless. How could you possibly worry about this? You have to stay!"

"You should worry about yourself. You sleep in class every day." Yin Li appeared from behind and hit Lu Bai on the butt with a broom. "If you're fine, leave quickly. I'm anxious to do my duty!"

"Ouch! Be gentle! I'm leaving now." Lu Bai ran towards the door, not forgetting to pull Zhang Xiaotian with him. "Good luck on the exam tomorrow, Yin Li!"

Early autumn nights were a touch cooler than summer days, ideal for a pleasant day. However, the tense atmosphere before the exam inevitably took its toll on everyone. Even the usually boisterous Lu Bai was less talkative than usual. But Zhang Xiaotian felt more relaxed than usual.

He'd done everything he could before, and if he couldn't stay, it was only because of his lack of ability. But... if he could stay in Class 1, then his mother's efforts to get him transferred there wouldn't have been in vain. Memories of Class 1 flashed back and forth before his eyes. Although there was a certain amount of confusion and awkwardness, the overall feeling was actually better than he'd imagined. Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaotian breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of relief.

"You're not nervous anymore." Lu Bai leaned most of his body on Zhang Xiaotian. "Your deskmate and I's troubles have just begun."

Ah, yes, and Lu Bai.

Zhang Xiaotian lowered his head slightly to look at Lu Bai leaning on his shoulder. He felt so relaxed now because of him. Every time he was around Lu Bai, he felt more relaxed. Maybe it was because Lu Bai was a very good person to his friends.

"Not even a word of comfort?" Lu Bai buried his face in Zhang Xiaotian's shoulder. "I want to break up with you for a second."

"It's not me who asked you not to attend class." Zhang Xiaotian said to him.

"I attended the class, too." Lu Bai said in a muffled voice, "You can't slander me."

"Yeah, you listened."

Zhang Xiaotian suppressed the corner of his mouth that had just turned up, and said nothing more, letting Lu Bai lean on him. The street lights were quietly on, and he watched their shadows shorten and then be left behind. It seemed as if they were the only two walking on the corridor leading to the school gate. Lu Bai's body temperature seeped through his school uniform to the surface of his skin, and he could hear someone's heartbeat.

Lu Bai stood up straight after reaching the school gate, straightened his school uniform, and smiled at Zhang Xiaotian: "See you in class after the exam, deskmate."

Zhang Xiaotian also smiled and replied: "See you in class, deskmate."

There was no evening self-study during the two days of the exam, and the examination hall was another class, which made Zhang Xiaotian feel a little dazed, as if the previous month in Class 1 was just a dream. So on the morning of the second day after the exam, he stood at the door of Class 1, and was a little afraid to go in. It was not until Lu Bai saw him standing at the door and called him that he finally felt the reality.

"What were you doing just now? Why didn't you come in?" Lu Bai asked him as he pulled out a stool and sat down.

"Nothing." Zhang Xiaotian said casually.

You can't say you still think you're not in this class, that would be too stupid.

"You did well on the test, didn't you?" Lu Bai took out the test paper. "I think I did OK. Let me see your test paper."

Zhang Xiaotian took out the test paper and placed it next to him.

Lu Bai picked out the physics paper and compared it with his own.

"Hey, how can you choose B?" He pointed at one of the questions. "This question obviously requires C. I'll give up."

"Let me take a look." Zhang Xiaotian also leaned over to take a look.

"I might not be so confident about other things, but when it comes to physics, I'm still pretty good at it, your deskmate." Lu Bai pulled out a piece of calculation paper and said, "Come here and I'll explain it to you."

"What's the question?" Yin Li chimed in from a distance, having just entered the classroom. "Physics? Let me take a look." She pulled out her own physics paper and spread it across Lu Bai and Zhang Xiaotian's desk.

"Sixth single choice."

"I forgot whether I did it or not." Yin Li thought for a moment and looked at Zhang Xiaotian again, "Did you do this problem by yourself?"

"No." Zhang Xiaotian shook his head. "I don't know how to do that. I just guessed it."

"Haha, you two are screwed!" Lu Bai took out a pen and wrote the steps directly on the blank space on the paper. "Come on, let me explain it to you two."

Zhang Xiaotian approached him and looked down at his paper. Lu Bai's written steps were completely different from his notes, omitting some basic information and focusing on the key points, which made him seem like a show-off. The way he explained the problem only confirmed his intention to show off. He twirled his pen while explaining the problem and even made some mean remarks.

"Do you understand, both of you?" Lu Bai tapped on the test paper. "Such a simple question still requires my explanation. It seems your cultivation is still too shallow."

"That's enough, you." Yin Li picked up the test paper. "You're still showing off even when you're talking about a moral question."

"Just tell me I didn't explain it clearly!" Lu Bai snapped the cap back on his pen. "After listening to my explanation, I'll treat you two as my disciples from now on. Come and call me Master."

"Shame on you!" Yin Li cursed with a smile, "You're taking advantage of us!"

The class was still empty at this point. Yin Li rolled up her paper and stood up from her seat, pretending to hit him. Lu Bai smiled and dodged behind Zhang Xiaotian. As they played, they kept their eyes on the front and back doors, fearing a teacher might come in and see them. Yin Li was holding her "weapon," and Lu Bai couldn't dodge it. He simply stood up from his seat, took a few steps backward, and bumped into Han Chengcheng, who was entering from the back door.

"Ouch!" Han Chengcheng stumbled as she entered the room. Seeing that it was Lu Bai, she quickly said, "What's the fuss? Go back to your seat! Old Zhang has already reached the stairs."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the class sat down and took out their books, pretending to study. Lu Bai also hurried back to his seat, spread the test paper on the table, and began to read. After a while, he lost focus and began to draw on his calculation paper. Not long after, the class teacher walked in and sat down at the podium, looking at his phone.

Zhang Xiaotian looked down at the question Lu Bai had just explained, pondering it carefully and planning to write it down. Just as he pulled out his notebook for the wrong questions, Lu Bai pushed a small piece of graph paper over to him with a black dot on it.

Is this, Gobang?

He looked at Lu Bai, who also looked at him, pointing his chin at the paper. Zhang Xiaotian looked up at the front again. Ban Ren was still looking down at his phone, not noticing the small movement. He lowered his head even more, took the paper Lu Bai pushed over, drew a hollow circle next to the black dot, and pushed the paper back.

As soon as Han Chengcheng sat down, she took out the test paper and asked Yin Li to explain the questions to her. Yin Li must have come to the difficult part. She lowered her head and studied it for a long time. She turned around to look at Lu Bai and found that Lu Bai was not studying. So she turned around with the test paper, and Han Chengcheng turned around as well.

"Lu Bai, take a look." Yin Li pointed at the question and asked, "How did you explain this part just now? Explain it to Chengcheng again."

"Tsk, what's so hard to understand? It's just like that, you see..." Lu Bai rummaged through the table, took out the same calculation paper, and explained it to Han Chengcheng again. After he finished, he didn't forget to tease Yin Li again: "You must not have listened carefully just now. I need to explain it again."

Yin Li snorted, and Han Chengcheng smiled.

"Alright, go back and think about it," Lu Bai waved his hand and said to Han Chengcheng, "If you understand, tell your master about it again, my little disciple."

"Grand-disciple?" Han Chengcheng was confused. "What do you mean by grand-disciple and master?"

"Don't listen to his nonsense." Yin Li pulled her and turned around.

"You're my apprentice, and you're explaining the problems to Han Cheng. Doesn't that make her my grand-apprentice?" Lu Bai explained. The class teacher sitting in the front suddenly coughed twice, and everyone quickly sat up straight.

Seeing that Han Chengcheng was still confused before turning around, Zhang Xiaotian couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, which was seen by Lu Bai.

"Why are you laughing too?" Lu Bai said in a low voice.

"You're not allowed to laugh anymore?" Zhang Xiaotian said, "I'm laughing at you being childish."

"How can this be childish?" Lu Bai looked up at the class teacher, pulled a piece of paper over, and started scribbling and marking on it with a pen, pretending to give a lecture. "I was the first to notice that you got the question wrong, so you are my eldest disciple, Yin Li's senior brother, and Han Cheng's uncle. We have to understand the generational relationship clearly and can't mess it up!"

Zhang Xiaotian almost laughed out loud, but he swallowed his smile back, cleared his throat, took out the paper he had been playing Gobang on, drew a circle on it, and pushed it back to Lu Bai.

"Still playing?" Lu Bai took it over. "Didn't you lose enough just now?"

"Yeah." Zhang Xiaotian nodded, "Come again."