Chapter 2: Are we really just going home together? It shouldn't be a date with anyone...

"Yu Xiang? Yu Xiang!" Lei Wanquan said to himself, and found that Yu Xiang seemed to be in a trance, so he tried to call him, but found that there was no response, so he could only raise his voice and call again.

Yu Xiang came back to his senses instantly: "Yeah!"

Lei Wanquan frowned: "Are you listening to me?"

Yu Xiang answered honestly: "Yes, teacher."

Lei Wanquan: "What did I just say?"

Multitasking is Yu Xiang's forte: "You just told me to keep working hard on the midterm exam."

"Yeah. Just remember it." Lei Wanquan was finally satisfied after hearing Yu Xiang's answer. "If you have any questions, you can ask Jiang Ci for advice. I don't care how big the conflicts between you two are. Classmates should learn from each other. There's no such thing as a huge hatred."

Yu Xiang knew very well that he must not argue with Lei Wanquan on this matter, so he could only nod and say, "Okay."

"Okay, then go back to study."

After saying this, Lei Wanquan returned to the office.

Yu Xiang returned to his seat with mixed feelings and glanced at Jiang Ci calmly.

Jiang Ci was still concentrating on writing his questions and seemed to be completely unaware of his gaze.

So he lowered his gaze and glanced at the question Jiang Ci was working on: "..."

As expected, Jiang Ci had already finished the homework assigned by the teacher today, and was now working on a difficult problem set that he had obtained from somewhere.

Is this the self-cultivation of being the top student in the class?

Jiang Ci's fingers were white, slender and well-defined, and the way he held the pen and wrote was very pleasing to the eye. Yu Xiang was entranced by the sight.

"You've been staring at me for at least two minutes. What's the matter?" Jiang Ci suddenly turned around and asked him in a low voice.

Yu Xiang looked away awkwardly: "Is it not okay to just look at your beautiful hands?"

After hearing what he said, Jiang Ci simply put down his pen and stretched out his hand in front of Yu Xiang.

Yu Xiang: "? What are you doing?"

Jiang Ci: "I'll show you enough."

Yu Xiang was full of black lines on his face: "Are you sick?"

Jiang Ci was puzzled: "Didn't you say it was beautiful? I'll let you see as much as you want."

"Take it back, take it back. I don't want to look." Yu Xiang turned back stiffly. After confirming that the teacher sitting on the podium hadn't noticed them, he continued to ask in a low voice, "Did you go to see the Thunder God later?"

Jiang Ci had already picked up his pen again and was calculating rapidly on the draft paper. Hearing this, he said "hmm" lightly.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"You'll know it sooner or later anyway."

Yu Xiang: “…” How on earth could he easily end the conversation with just a few words?

Just when Yu Xiang thought Jiang Ci was about to continue to indulge in studying, Jiang Ci suddenly leaned in and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Want to go home together tonight?"

Yu Xiang: “?”

However, before Yu Xiang could respond, Jiang Ci added, "Give me your answer after class."

Yu Xiang snorted silently in his heart.

I just do what I want, how bad.

But at the same time, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with Jiang Ci. Why would he suddenly invite him to go home with him in the evening?

Don't we usually just go our separate ways, adhering to the principle that no one can stand each other anyway?

You have to know that although their two families are good neighbors, the way they were educated since childhood is very different.

For example, Jiang Ci has received elite education since he was a child, and very high requirements are placed on him. He not only has to focus on his studies, but also has to complete other tasks in his spare time.

But Yu Xiang was different. His parents had always raised him in a free-range way, believing that as long as he didn't commit crimes or endanger society, he could do whatever he wanted.

It’s just because Jiang Ci lives next door, so no matter how free-range he is, he might be picked out for comparison.

The more he compared himself with Yu Xiang, the more annoyed he became, and the more he looked at Jiang Ci, the more he disliked him.

"Have you thought about it?" When the bell rang, Jiang Ci put down his pen and turned to look at him expressionlessly.

"Wait, wait until I finish this question." Yu Xiang was still struggling with a physics problem and said unhappily.

Jiang Ci leaned over to take a look and said calmly, "You probably can't solve this problem on your own. Do you need me to teach you?"

Yu Xiang, who was truly clueless, replied: "..."

But he still stubbornly wrote down a formula that might be useful, pretending that he actually had an idea: "No need!"

Jiang Ci: "This is the formula that will be used in the third question."

"Why are you so annoying?" Yu Xiang was unable to bear it any longer, feeling resentful. "You know we're not on good terms, yet you still come here to make a presence felt?"

These words were definitely harsh. If it were anyone else, they would have turned away and never spoken to each other again, but the person was Jiang Ci.

Jiang Ci was completely unmoved by this, and even calmly said, "It's your business if you hate me, what does it have to do with me?"

Yu Xiang's face was almost numb: "So?"

"So I'm just providing some necessary help to my deskmate. What's the problem?"

Jiang Ci's answer was flawless. Yu Xiang couldn't think of anything to refute for a while, so he chose to remain silent.

After a long while, he finally managed to say, "I'll go ask the teacher myself later."

Jiang Ci: "Are you sure you understand what the teacher said?"

Their physics teacher lectures at a very fast pace. If you listen carefully, you can understand the simple or medium-difficulty questions. However, if it is a difficult question, there are many people who cannot understand it even after he explains it three times.

The question that Yu Xiang was struggling with happened to be the difficult one at the end.

"Don't look down on me. It's a big deal to get first place in the exam." Yu Xiang's eyelids twitched when he heard that, and he replied with gritted teeth.

"It's not that I look down on you, it's because your foundation is relatively weak." Jiang Ci said calmly, "It's up to you. Anyway, the next time I fail the physics exam, I won't be the one the teacher calls out."

Yu Xiang: “…”

Some people are like this, they have a delicate and good-looking appearance, but they have a mouth that speaks in a way that makes people ask for a punch.

"So what are you thinking about?"

Yu Xiang was so angry that he didn't realize what Jiang Ci was referring to. "What do you mean?"

"Let's go home together tonight."

"I'll go back then." Yu Xiang thought to himself, I'd like to see what's going on, so he closed his eyes and agreed with determination.

"Okay. Then wait for me after class and leave together."

"knew."

The evening self-study classes for the first and second year high schools each last three periods, and the teacher in charge of the last period is their physics teacher.

In order to save his face, Yu Xiang finally took the question to the podium and found their physics teacher, asking him to explain it to him.

In fact, he knew that Jiang Ci was right and he couldn't understand what the teacher was saying, but he just wanted to go against him.

In a sense, it is also a very typical example of suffering for the sake of face.

But his biggest characteristic is that he refuses to admit defeat, so even if he didn't understand everything, he tried very hard to understand, and in the end he actually understood a small part of it.

Yu Xiang returned to his seat with the exercise book. As soon as he sat down, he saw a piece of homework paper on the table that looked like a note.

The note was just lying there on the table, and one could see the flamboyant handwriting on it at a glance. It was obvious that the person who wrote the note was very perfunctory and didn't even bother to fold it.

If any teacher who was inspecting the class came in and took a look before he came back, he would be doomed.

And the lingering sound of the handwriting was naturally recognizable—it belonged to Jiang Ci.

In fact, it's not just him. Even if you randomly ask any teacher in the class to come and see, they can easily recognize it.

Because Jiang Ci is the only boy in his class whose grades are proportional to his handwriting - the others are all girls, but his handwriting is not as beautiful as that of girls, so it is very recognizable.

To sum up, Yu Xiang came to the conclusion: this person is too bold.

He plopped down on the chair and made sure that there were no teachers peeping in the corridor or at the front or back door before reaching out to grab the note on the table and carefully checking its contents.

He just glanced at it briefly and didn't read the content carefully. Now he realized that what was written on it was not normal words at all, but a very neatly written process of solving the problem.

"Why did you throw your draft paper on my desk?" It was a pity that Yu Xiang didn't have the patience to read the entire process, and even reflexively thought that it was a draft paper that Jiang Ci threw away.

Jiang Ci turned his head and looked over. After a moment of silence, he said, "Why don't you take a closer look?"

Yu Xiang: “?”

He followed his instructions and looked carefully at the contents on the paper. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.

like.

yes.

The physics problem he couldn't understand just now.

Yu Xiang licked his lips and after a moment's inner struggle, he said, "Why are you writing this? I can look at the reference answers myself."

Jiang Ci withdrew his gaze and replied coldly: "Then just look at the reference answer."

Yu Xiang's gaze fell back on the piece of paper filled with answers, and a sense of regret inexplicably arose in his heart.

Maybe he shouldn't have said that just now.

With mixed feelings, he took out the answer book from the desk, and after finding the corresponding page, he discovered that the reference answer was [omitted].

Yu Xiang looked at that [略] speechlessly, cursing the bookseller in his heart for being so heartless.

As the bell for the last evening self-study get out of class rang, the classroom was filled with the sound of chaotic chairs being moved. Many people had been ready for a few minutes and rushed out of the classroom as soon as possible.

Yu Xiangben was one of them, but as soon as he stood up, he suddenly remembered that he had promised Jiang Ci to go home together, so he had to stop and wait patiently for Jiang Ci to pack his schoolbag.

"Brother Yu, aren't you leaving yet?" Yu Xiang's loyal brothers, Zhang Miao and Fang Chengyu, were used to leaving the school with him. They came to wait for him as usual, but they were stunned to find that he was standing there with no intention of leaving.

"You guys go ahead, I'll wait for him."

Zhang Miao hadn't realized who this "he" was referring to yet: "Who are you waiting for?"

Yu Xiang squeezed out three words from between his teeth: "My deskmate."

Zhang Miao and Fang Chengyu both widened their eyes at the same time when they heard this answer, their faces filled with disbelief: "?!"

"You two are really just going home together, right?" After being shocked, Zhang Miao quietly moved closer and asked in a slightly nervous voice.

It shouldn't be a fight in some dark alley, right?

"Then what else could it be?" Yu Xiang asked in confusion.

Zhang Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then Brother Yu, I'll go with Sanshui first." After a moment of silence, Fang Chengyu suddenly reached out and patted Zhang Miao's shoulder, saying hello to Yu Xiang.

"Yes. Ride slowly and remember to wear a helmet. Director Xie will catch you."

The two men, who had been caught several times, looked at each other for a few seconds and scratched their heads embarrassedly.

After Zhang Miao and Fang Chengyu left, there were only a few people left in the classroom.

Jiang Ci also packed up the things he wanted to take home, stood up with his schoolbag, and turned his gaze to Yu Xiang: "Let's go."

The two of them were silent on the way out of the school gate, and the atmosphere was indescribably weird.

Most of the day students in the class ride electric scooters to and from school, but since their homes are very close to the school, they can walk to the school in less than ten minutes if they take a shortcut, so their families do not provide them with electric scooters.

Yu Xiang was not happy at first, but...

"There's no need to waste resources. Your parents' money didn't come from the wind. Just ride the bike you rode in junior high school." These were the exact words of Yu Xiang's mother.

Under pressure from his mother, he had to reluctantly agree, but the good times didn't last long. Shortly after the start of his first year of high school, his bicycle was stolen and never recovered.

He thought he finally had a reason to buy an electric car, but Yu Ma said again: "Then just walk a few steps. It won't kill you."

From then on, he started walking to and from school every day.

The road from the teaching building to the school gate is actually not too far, but Yu Xiang feels that this road is extremely long today.

"Why do you suddenly want me to go home with you today?" After holding it in for a while, Yu Xiang couldn't help but asked awkwardly.

"It's been uneasy around here lately," Jiang Ci replied.

Yu Xiang was bewildered: "Why is there no peace?"

"Some people are extorting money and engaging in group fights," Jiang Ci explained calmly. "Although we're cracking down on this, we can't rule out the possibility that some people are still committing crimes in defiance of the law."

The high school they attended was relatively old and located in a remote area, surrounded by old residential buildings and a network of alleys. The surveillance equipment and lighting facilities were not up to date.

"Oh." Yu Xiang understood, raised his eyebrows and glanced at him with interest, "So you are scared?"

Jiang Ci: "..."

Yu Xiang thought that he didn't want to admit it, so he just pretended to be dumb, and he felt secretly happy.

"Wait." Yu Xiang suddenly remembered something, stopped, turned around and said to Jiang Ci, "You ride a bike and I walk, our different means of transportation are incompatible. I think I need to reconsider this."

He walked home because his bike was gone, but Jiang Ci's was still there, so there was no reason for him to walk with him.

"Don't reconsider. I'll walk too."

Yu Xiang: "Where's your car?"

Jiang Ci: "It's broken."

Yu Xiang: “Oh.”

The topic ended again, and the two fell into silence for a while.

There were only a few steps left to the school gate, but Jiang Ci suddenly turned around and looked in a certain direction.

"What's wrong?" Yu Xiang was very curious, so he followed his gaze and looked over, but didn't find anything unusual.

"Nothing." Jiang Ci withdrew his gaze and walked straight out of the school gate.

"Damn, that was a close call. I was almost discovered." Fang Chengyu, who was hiding behind a tree, breathed a sigh of relief with lingering fear.

"Why should we follow them secretly?" The tree trunks could only block a limited area, so Zhang Miao, who was traveling with him, was forced to stay close to him.

"Brother Yu and Jiang Ci go home together. What's the difference between that and Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf going home together? There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Shouldn't we follow them secretly and take a look?" Fang Chengyu said with a disappointed look.

Zhang Miao still didn't get the point: "Who's Pleasant Goat and who's Big Big Wolf?"

"It's not important!" Fang Chengyu replied with gritted teeth.

"Okay. But there seems to be a very serious problem now." Zhang Miao said with a serious face.

"What?"

"We seem to have lost him."

“…I’m too lazy to spray anymore.”

"A-choo—" Yu Xiang rubbed his slightly sore nose and muttered as he rubbed it, "Who is secretly thinking about me in the middle of the night?"

"It's more likely that you caught a cold because the temperature dropped tonight." Jiang Ci added mercilessly, "Don't use this as an excuse for your narcissism."

"Tsk. You're really nosy." Yu Xiang wanted to continue to retort, but he noticed that the alley they were about to walk through was much darker than usual. He couldn't help but wonder, "Is there a power outage?"

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