Chapter 3 There's still one... before evening self-study begins.

There was still some time before evening self-study began, but most people had already returned to their seats.

While Ouyang Qian was chatting with the entertainment committee member Yin Mengran, Fang Minzhou sat down, and Ouyang Qian asked her what her plans were for the National Day holiday.

"What's wrong?" Fang Minzhou asked.

“We’re planning to go to Happy Valley with some friends during the National Day holiday. I heard there will be fireworks. Are you interested?” Yin Mengran said.

Fang Minzhou asked again, "When?"

"There are too many people number one, maybe number two or number three."

"That doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll probably be going to my maternal grandmother's house a few days before National Day."

"Oh, I see. Then we'll have another chance next time."

"Um."

Yin Mengran glanced at Wang Kan's empty seat and said to them, "When Wang Kan comes back later, can you ask him if he's going?"

Hearing the name "Wang Kan" from others made Fang Minzhou feel like a mosquito had suddenly buzzed in her ear. She was secretly glad that she had already declined; she, Yin Mengran, and most of the other students in her new class weren't close enough to go out together yet.

Ouyang Qian glanced at Fang Minzhou, who remained silent, and replied, "Okay."

After Yin Mengran left, Ouyang Qian said, "If I weren't going out to play, I would really like to go."

After a while, seeing that Fang Minzhou hadn't responded, Ouyang Qian reminded her, "You should ask me now, where should I go to play?"

After realizing what she meant, Fang Minzhou smiled and helplessly played along, asking, "Where do you want to go?"

“My aunt is going to Inner Mongolia, and I want to go too. I’ll bring you some beef jerky when I come back.”

"Okay, thank you."

Ouyang Qian thought for a moment, then turned around and grabbed a box of mixed fruit hard candies. "Want some? Have a candy to cheer yourself up."

"...I'm not unhappy." Fang Minzhou said as she picked up a blue one, which had a cool mint flavor and looked pretty but didn't taste good.

"Really? I was overthinking it. But I'd still be happier with a piece of candy." Ouyang Qian joked casually, crunching the candy in her mouth.

Fang Min smiled, then suddenly looked to her right as if she had something in mind. She saw Wang Kan peeking out from the front door. After hesitating for a few seconds, she stood up and gave up her seat.

Wang Kan strolled over unhurriedly and took it all in stride, sitting down directly. Under Ouyang Qian's watchful gaze, his attitude immediately made Fang Minzhou feel somewhat embarrassed, as if she were a security guard or soldier responsible for making way for him, while he was a monarch or emperor.

Fang Minzhou held her breath and sat down.

Ouyang Qian winked at Fang Minzhou, seemingly sensing the increasingly tense atmosphere between her and Wang Kan, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she handed the candy box to Wang Kan as well.

Wang Kan said he didn't like sweets.

Ouyang Qian was just being polite, and then relayed Yin Mengran's invitation to Wang Kan. Wang Kan said he was busy, so Ouyang Qian said, "Then let's do it next time. It seems like everyone is busy."

"Who are you all?" Wang Kan asked casually.

“I want to go out and play, Minzhou is going to Grandma’s house.” Ouyang Qian pointed to Jin Baihao, who was wearing headphones and doing his homework, “He has to attend tutoring classes.”

Fang Minzhou then felt that Wang Kan glanced at her in response to Ouyang Qian's words, and the next second, he seemed to chuckle.

Fang Minzhou: "..."

The school bell rang, and Ouyang Qian's gaze swept between her and Wang Kan before she turned away like a little figure in a music box.

Fang Minzhou then looked at Wang Kan, who was already leisurely reading a sports magazine in his hand.

If Fang Minzhou said she was fine while comforting Yuan Yue, she was still somewhat resentful inside, Wang Kan's cold laugh completely dispelled any thoughts of making amends.

She adheres to objectivity and rationality in her conduct and actions. Her apology was not a complete attempt to deceive Yuan Yue, after all, her words may have genuinely hurt her. If possible, she still hopes to maintain peaceful coexistence. However, given Wang Kan's attitude, Fang Minzhou could no longer afford to lower herself.

That's fine, she thought to herself, since she was just telling the truth anyway.

But Wang Kan didn't seem to intend to give up so easily.

Just as the bell rang to signal the end of the first evening self-study session, Fang Minzhou was still doing her homework when suddenly her chair leg was kicked from the side.

It was a very light but sudden movement, but her hand trembled, and the black pen in her hand drew a long black line on the notebook, which looked extremely jarring against the otherwise neat handwriting.

Fang Minzhou looked up, and Wang Kan looked down at her with a slight smile. "I want to go out."

Fang Minzhou pursed her lips, suppressed her anger, and stood up.

After Wang Kan left, Ouyang Qian, who had witnessed the whole thing, was about to say something when Jin Baihao beat her to it and asked Fang Minzhou, "Did you do your math homework?"

Ouyang Qian: "..."

Jin Baihao pushed up his glasses, looking puzzled. Fang Minzhou gestured to Ouyang Qian that everything was alright, then replied to Jin Baihao, "I wrote it."

"I think I made a mistake in the formula for the last sequence problem; the answer is wrong," Jin Baihao pleaded for help in frustration.

"Let me see."

Ouyang Qian, who was standing to the side, sighed as she looked at the ceiling.

The ten-minute break between classes passed quickly as we discussed a problem.

When the bell for the second evening self-study session had already rung, Wang Kan finally arrived late. Fang Minzhou, who had already refocused on her work, was kicked in the chair by Wang Kan, and her train of thought was immediately interrupted.

Fang Minzhou suppressed her anger, which was like a chick chirping after hatching. She looked at the question again, pieced together her thoughts that had been interrupted, and then slowly looked up at Wang Kan.

The classroom was quiet, with only the soft sounds of turning pages and scribbling. If you listened carefully, you might even hear the buzzing of the incandescent bulbs overhead.

No matter how good the school or class is, there will always be a few "good-for-nothing" students. Whether they are distracted or simply give up trying because they find they can't keep up, Fang Minzhou had classmates who were even more troublesome than Wang Kan in her first year of high school, but she had almost no contact with them during her time in the same class. And now, the jerk in front of her was her deskmate.

He stood there for a while, which attracted some attention from those around him.

If this is the price... Fang Minzhou propped herself up on the table and stood up for the second time.

Wang Kan made a perfunctory gesture of thanks, then sat down and continued reading his sports magazine.

Fang Minzhou thought he was very naive.

A note was passed to me from the front row: Are you alright?

Fang Minzhou could imagine the tone of Ouyang Qian's voice when she asked that question, and she replied: It's okay, don't worry.

She checked it over and saw that it seemed a bit cold. However, her drawing skills were not good enough, so she drew a smiling sun instead. She gently patted Ouyang Qian's shoulder and handed the note back to her.

With her face obscured by the magazine, Wang Kan, who had caught a glimpse of this scene, raised her eyebrows high and stared at Fang Minzhou as if she had seen a ghost.

He thought his deskmate was an absolutely law-abiding, model student, so he wondered if he was secretly passing notes to him.

Upon noticing Wang Kan's gaze again, Fang Minzhou glared at him. After a few seconds of eye contact, the two turned away expressionlessly.

After Wang Kan finished flipping through the magazine sections that interested him, he glanced at his watch. The self-study period was almost halfway over, and he should start doing his homework, otherwise he might not have time to finish it by the weekend. Fang Minzhou was still writing furiously. Wang Kan craned his neck to peek at it and saw that it was a physics test paper.

Fang Minzhou was both similar to and unlike the good students he remembered. He studied diligently, and once he sat down, he wouldn't budge. But he had a terrible temper, though it wasn't outwardly apparent. He seemed like a sheep, but this sheep could hurt you badly if it gored you.

The more he saw Fang Minzhou studying diligently tonight, the more frustrated he became.

As the second evening self-study session was about to end, there was some restlessness in the class, but Fang Minzhou remained completely unaffected. Wang Kan figured out the reason: her single-minded focus on her studies was probably a reflection of her disdain for him.

Whether his attitude towards learning is correct or not, it's just that they dislike his poor grades.

Wang Kan's mind was filled with Fang Minzhou's two "not so good" comments.

After the initial embarrassment and anger, Wang Kan, now calmer, found Fang Minzhou rather ridiculous. However, he wasn't going to hold a grudge against a girl who had deliberately teased him twice; he had to let go of his anger.

The bell rang, and the quickest students dashed out of the classroom. Wang Kan, who used to be too lazy to bring books home, stuffed them all into her bag today, while Fang Minzhou, perhaps too focused, propped her head up with her right hand and stared at the questions without moving an inch.

Zheng Yanhang called him, and Wang Kan wanted to tell Fang Minzhou to let him out, but as he stretched out his leg, he subconsciously kicked her chair again. Wang Kan was startled, "No..."

He wanted to say "Excuse me," but Fang Minzhou slammed her pen on the table with a "bang," saying, "Could you please stop kicking my chair?"

Wang Kan was taken aback.

Fang Minzhou was furious at having her train of thought interrupted once again. Instead of standing up passively, she glared fiercely at Wang Kan.

Although Wang Kan was standing, Fang Minzhou, who was sitting, was aggressive. Her eyes were filled with disdain, and her tone was serious: "I said, can you please stop kicking my chair? If you want to leave, just tell me, and I'll let you out, okay?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a block of ice, her aura spreading like cold air. The others who hadn't left yet slowed down and peered at a patch of reeds bent over by the wind.

Wang Kan was surprised that Fang Minzhou could accuse him so confidently. He told Fang Minzhou to look around and reminded her, enunciating each word clearly, "Then I'll say, get out of class is over, school's out."

A crack appeared on Fang Minzhou's cold face: she had forgotten that it was Friday and there were only two evening self-study sessions.

Then she realized she disliked Wang Kan even more.

Every evening during self-study, she would make a study plan for herself, and if she hadn't finished by the end of the session, she would stay and continue. Before, she sat inside without disturbing anyone, but now... her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately felt that she had to make her attitude clear to Wang Kan, otherwise he might retaliate against her even more severely.

"Even after class and school is over, you shouldn't kick my chair. Can't you talk to me properly?"

Wang Kan opened his mouth, but in the end, he laughed in extreme anger.

Who is it that can't speak properly?

Fang Minzhou met Wang Kan's teasing gaze without flinching.

It seems he has no idea how annoying he is.

Zheng Yanhang and Wu Cheng waited at the door for a long time but Wang Kan didn't come. They walked into the classroom in surprise and were shocked to see Wang Kan and Fang Minzhou arguing.

Ouyang Qian, who hadn't left yet, found it strange. She'd seen the two of them secretly competing all week, but she hadn't expected them to actually start arguing. However, she still had to say a few words of advice. She sided with Fang Minzhou, saying that Wang Kan was wrong, but also telling Fang Minzhou not to be too angry.

“Yes, yes,” Zheng Yanhang echoed.

"What's wrong?" Squad leader Lin Sinian also came over.

As they brushed past each other, he gave her a deep look.

A note from the author:

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