Chapter 17 "Glory is mine, flowers for you."...
On the day the mock exam ended, teachers of all subjects began working overtime to grade the papers during evening self-study.
Due to a shortage of staff, each class selected several high-achieving students to help in the office. The students selected from Class One were Tang Ci and Song Ke.
Old Xu's notification came late; the two of them had only been studying for five minutes when they received the notification and went to the office together.
The temperature dropped sharply at night, and a north wind blew through the corridor. Tang Ci zipped her coat all the way up and asked Song Ke, "Which subject should we switch to?"
"Physics." Song Ke heard her voice was low and hoarse, and asked with concern, "Do you have a cold? You sound a little off."
Since she started tutoring Sheng Yu, Tang Ci has said everything she hadn't said in the first two years of high school. She thought it was just a dry, hoarse throat from overuse of her voice, so she shook her head and said, "It's probably not a cold. I'll just drink some water later."
Upon arriving at the office, Tang Ci first turned on the water dispenser. Before the water even heated up, she immersed herself in the busy work of grading papers, completely forgetting about the discomfort in her throat.
As class was about to end, the math teacher at the next table turned to Mr. Xu and exclaimed, "Wow—come and look at this test paper! Seeing this name gave me quite a fright!"
Old Xu neatly put down his pen, turned his head, and first saw the paper with its flamboyant handwriting. His brows furrowed in disdain. Then, his gaze moved upwards, and when he saw the name and score, he was stunned. He asked incredulously, "Sheng Yu?! One hundred and thirty-nine points?"
Upon hearing their conversation, Tang Ci stopped flipping through the exam paper, her steady heartbeat quickening uncontrollably.
Other teachers and students grading papers also looked up, and some even crowded around Sheng Yu's paper to take a closer look.
"It really is Sheng Yu! Oh my god, Old Xu, you're going to make it big!" a teacher teased.
One student lamented, "The questions were already difficult, and now a dark horse has emerged! The grade rankings are going to be reshuffled again!"
The math teacher shook his head, clicking his tongue in amazement, "Teacher Xu is really good at teaching; she can even persuade such a difficult student to come back."
He gestured with his chin toward Old Xu, "Could you share your experience with me privately?"
Old Xu waved his hand, unable to stop smiling, and looked at Tang Ci with a beaming smile, "Sheng Yu's achievements are all thanks to the excellent teaching of Tang Ci in our class."
The math teacher, recalling this incident, slapped his forehead in deep regret, "If I had known that tutoring was such a good method, I would have definitely assigned those troublemakers in my class to study partners."
"However, I don't think any of the top students in our class would want to get involved in this. I'd be satisfied if they could just look after themselves."
Old Xu's smile faltered for a moment, and he turned to speak to Tang Ci with a worried tone, "How did you do on the exam this time? Were you affected by the tutoring?"
The questions weren't too difficult for her this time, and Tang Ci gently comforted Lao Xu, "It's alright, you should be able to maintain your original ranking."
Her voice was flat and emotionless, as if getting first place in the grade was just a trivial matter.
Old Xu felt relieved, but he still flipped through the calendar on the table and solemnly reminded her, "There are only a few months left until winter break. No matter how Sheng Yu does on the final exams, you have to move back. You need to prepare well for the college entrance exam in the second semester, understand?"
Tang Ci glanced at the bright red date on the calendar, nodded, and said, "Understood."
/
Even with the impact of her math score, Sheng Yu's scores in the remaining subjects still caused quite a stir in the office.
Tang Ci stopped participating in the discussion, but instead tore off a piece of scrap paper and secretly wrote down Sheng Yu's grades in all subjects.
Aside from Chinese and English, which require extensive accumulation of knowledge, Sheng Yu's grades in the remaining subjects can be described as a remarkable turnaround.
Hearing everyone's praises, Tang Ci mentally estimated Sheng Yu's ranking and subtly raised the corners of her lips.
The papers were graded until after evening self-study. Song Ke helped the teacher move the papers to the offices of each class, while Lao Xu and Tang Ci did chores like tidying up the desks.
There was a sudden knock on the office door. Zou Qiang stood outside and eagerly peered into the office: "Teacher Xu, I want to ask you something."
Old Xu said "Hey," walked to the office door, and asked, "What's up?"
Zou Qiang glanced at Tang Ci's retreating figure and asked in a low voice, "Teacher, how did I do on the test this time? Did I improve compared to last time?"
Old Xu recalled his test paper and, considering Zou Qiang's diligent attitude towards studying this semester, gently comforted him, saying, "Your grades have improved a lot this time, which is inseparable from your consistent efforts. You must be tired after two days of exams, so go home and rest early today."
For a top-tier high school like No. 1 High School, "significant progress" is something to boast about. Zou Qiang's lips curled into a wide grin, and his voice rose sharply: "Okay! Thank you, Lao Xu!"
When Tang Ci returned to the classroom, only Zou Qiang and two other boys remained, and the three of them were sitting at the table discussing problems.
Zou Qiang's accuracy rate was very high, and one of the boys said enviously, "Brother Qiang, Lao Xu will definitely give you special praise this time."
"Are you ready to receive Lao Xu's flowers?" another boy patted Zou Qiang on the shoulder.
Old Xu is a romantic. After each major exam, she would give a bouquet of flowers to students who improved their grades by more than fifty places during the class meeting. This bouquet of flowers gradually became a symbol of honor for the class.
Zou Qiang laughed and chatted with them, tossing an eraser around. His words were full of pride about his improved grades. When he caught sight of Tang Ci out of the corner of his eye, he stopped what he was doing, cleared his throat, and asked in a loud voice, "Tang Ci, I haven't asked you yet, how did Sheng Yu do on the exam this time?"
When Tang Ci looked up, she felt a little dizzy. It took her a moment to meet his gaze, but she ignored his question.
The two boys looked embarrassed. Zou Qiang, unable to save face, snorted coldly, "Look at your dejected appearance, did Sheng Yu hand in a blank paper again?"
He finished speaking and laughed along with the two boys.
Tang Ci looked at them calmly and said, "You only dare to gossip about others behind their backs? If you have the guts, wait until tomorrow and say it in front of Sheng Yu."
Zou Qiang crumpled the eraser, stared at her fiercely for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, "Is this considered gossip? Everyone knows Sheng Yu is just a good-for-nothing rich kid. Do you really think you can bring him back to life by tutoring him for a few months?"
Tang Ci put her hand in her pocket, held the draft paper with Sheng Yu's grades written on it, sighed softly, decided not to argue with the fool anymore, nodded and said, "Whatever you say."
Zou Qiang thought she was giving up in frustration, and as she left, he curled his lip and mocked, "Tang Xueba, I sincerely advise you, if you don't have the ability, don't take on the work."
Tang Ci didn't respond, not because she found it troublesome, but because she realized she really had a cold. The dryness in her throat had turned into a stinging pain, and her head had started to ache.
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the hallway rattled in the wind, and the wind blew into the stairwell through the window cracks, making Tang Ci shiver.
She was wearing her autumn school uniform, and even with the zipper zipped up all the way, she couldn't keep out the cool breeze that could penetrate her clothes. She washed her nose, hugged her arms, curled up into a small ball, and quickly left the teaching building.
A few private cars were still parked sparsely outside the school gate. Tang Ci walked through them onto the sidewalk. A sudden gust of wind picked up at the corner. Tang Ci coughed and took out her phone from her pocket to check. There were only five minutes left before the last subway.
Tang Ci immediately started jogging, not noticing the all-black sedan below the steps. So when a voice called "Tang Ci" came from inside the car, she stopped abruptly, her shoe tip tripping over a protruding tile.
She steadied herself by holding onto a tree, then suddenly turned around and met the blinding headlights of a car. She squinted and looked inside, where a middle-aged man in the driver's seat was staring at her suspiciously.
Tang Ci must have misheard; she shook her head and looked away.
Just as she turned to leave, the back door opened, a hand with distinct knuckles gripped the door, and then Sheng Yu got out of the car.
"What are you standing there for?" He looked rather impatient and called to her from a distance of several meters, "Get in the car."
Even though she knew it was inappropriate, Tang Ci couldn't disobey Sheng Yu's words and got into the car as instructed. Unsure of the identity of the middle-aged man in the driver's seat, she politely greeted him, "Hello, Uncle."
Old Yang was secretly observing her through the rearview mirror when she suddenly greeted him, forcing a smile and replying with a "hello."
Sheng Yu made no attempt to introduce them, leaning back in his seat and lazily told the middle-aged man in the driver's seat Tang Ci's address.
Old Yang nodded repeatedly, turning his gaze away from the rearview mirror.
Tang Ci sensed the tense atmosphere in the car. Once the car started moving steadily, she said to Old Yang, "Thank you, Uncle. You've gone to so much trouble."
A low sneer came from the side, "Aren't you going to thank me?"
Tang Ci paused, then turned to him and said softly, "Thank you for taking me home."
Sheng Yu noticed that she was still crossing her arms while speaking and asked, "Are you cold?"
Tang Ci didn't want to cause him any more trouble, so she loosened her grip on his coat: "It's a bit cold outside, but it's much better inside the car now."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Sheng Yu threw the windbreaker jacket that was lying next to her onto her lap.
"Put it on if you're cold."
The car windows were all closed, and the interior was warm and comfortable. Tang Ci no longer felt cold, but her dizziness seemed to be getting worse. Like a rusty robot following Sheng Yu's instructions, she slowly picked up her down jacket and responded with a muffled "Oh."
The windbreaker is made of thin fabric, and it looks pathetic when worn over the flimsy school uniform.
As Tang Ci bent down to adjust her sleeves and hem, a piece of draft paper fell out of her school uniform pocket.
Sheng Yu picked it up, but before she could even open it, Tang Ci, looking nervous, snatched it away.
"Confidential documents?" Sheng Yu asked, amused.
Tang Ci nodded. The mock exam results had not yet been released, and the results she had copied without permission were indeed confidential documents.
A flower shop that was closing up flashed past the car window, and Tang Ci's eyes lit up. She leaned closer to him and said mysteriously, "You'll find out tomorrow. There'll be a surprise waiting for you."
"You prepared this?"
"No." Tang Ci shook her head, propped herself up on the chair, and instructed him, "Don't be late for the class meeting tomorrow afternoon."
Sheng Yu looked closely at her rosy cheeks without saying a word.
Old Yang turned around at the right moment and respectfully reminded him: "Young Master, don't forget, President Sheng wants you to go back to the old house with him for dinner tomorrow."
"Didn't you hear what she said?" Sheng Yu looked away from Tang Ci's face, his fingertips rubbing together.
Old Yang smiled ingratiatingly, "For something as trivial as a class meeting, Mr. Sheng can just make a call to your homeroom teacher."
Sheng Yu gave a curt smile, devoid of emotion, "President Sheng, you have quite the presence."
Old Yang chuckled and turned to Tang Ci, "Little classmate, tell me what important things happened in the class meeting so I can report to President Sheng."
Tang Ci clenched the draft paper in her pocket, swallowed the discomfort in her throat, and whispered, "It's nothing serious."
For the rest of the journey, no one spoke in the car. Tang Ci, wearing two coats, felt warm all over, and her eyelids began to droop. She fell asleep without realizing it.
When she opened her eyes again, the view outside the window had changed to the familiar stairwell. She suddenly opened her sleepy eyes and asked the person next to her nervously, "Did I sleep for a long time?"
Sheng Yu looked away from her phone. "The car just arrived."
Tang Ci breathed a sigh of relief, said "Oh," thanked him again, opened the door and got out of the car. After walking around the back of the car, she realized that she was still wearing Sheng Yu's clothes.
She took off her windbreaker, then knocked on the window and waited for Sheng Yu to lower the window before handing the crumpled-up jacket back to him.
Sheng Yu took it and casually tossed it onto the seat, then waved to her.
Tang Ci approached blankly, and when she was still some distance from the car window, Sheng Yu suddenly reached out the back of his hand and pressed it against her right cheek.
Alarm bells rang in Lao Yang's mind. His face tense as he stared at the scene in the rearview mirror, wondering whether he should report it to Sheng Hong.
Tang Ci's mind went blank. She stiffened, clutching her schoolbag tightly. She opened her mouth, but it took her several seconds to utter a sound, "...What's wrong?"
"You don't have a fever." Sheng Yu withdrew her hand, her calm tone tinged with a hint of confusion. "Why is your face so red?"
Her nerves tensed up suddenly. Tang Ci felt a surge of heat throughout her body because of his casual remark. At that moment, she felt like she had a fever, otherwise she couldn't explain her dizzy and lightheaded symptoms.
She stammered, "But, maybe, it just started burning."
"Then remember to take your medicine when you get back." Sheng Yu withdrew her arm, raised an eyebrow, and looked at the rearview mirror. "Does it look good?"
Old Yang chuckled awkwardly, averted his gaze, pretended to be an emotionless machine, and quickly drove away.
Tang Ci stood on the second-floor stairwell, watching the car drive away. She opened the window, let the breeze blow for a while, and then went upstairs.
/
All day long, the senior students' minds were on their mock exam scores. To prevent them from becoming agitated, the grade director instructed the teachers and students grading the papers to keep the scores confidential last night, but that didn't stop the students from discussing the answers in private.
The tense atmosphere continued until the last class meeting. Jiang Chan came to bother Tang Ci, who was doing her practice paper, again, saying, "Just tell me your grades secretly, I promise I won't tell anyone else."
After she finished speaking, she shook her head again, "Never mind, never mind, let's not talk about it anymore. The class meeting is about to start, a few more minutes won't make a difference."
Tang Ci smiled and simply said, "Don't worry."
Jiang Chan immediately revived, "Waaaaah, that's exactly what I've been waiting for!! Quick, while we still have time, let's go downstairs and buy a cup of milk tea to calm our nerves."
Tang Ci closed his pen cap, stood up with her, and when he turned his head and saw the empty seat on the right, his eyes dimmed slightly.
"Sheng Yu skipped class?" Jiang Chan asked, recalling that she had seen him just that morning.
A few students came in through the back door. Tang Ci, worried that they might be in the way, pushed her chair under the table. "He asked for leave."
Zou Qiang, who was the last to enter, overheard this and scoffed, "He probably only asked for leave because he was ashamed of his grades."
Tang Ci looked up at the sound and gave him a slight smile.
Zou Qiang frowned and muttered, "He's been stunned by the blow."
Once outside, Jiang Chan looked at Tang Ci suspiciously. "Did I see wrong? Why did you look at Zou Qiang with a hint of... pity?"
Tang Ci lightly rubbed the lining inside her pocket with her fingertips, pursing her lips without saying a word.
The school bell rang, and Mr. Xu walked into the classroom carrying a bunch of pure white gladioli. The atmosphere in the class instantly became lively, with cheers and doubts.
"Did anyone in our class improve by more than fifty places this time? Who's that amazing?!"
"I couldn't find out."
"It seems to be Zou Qiang; he's been excited all day."
"It's said he's hired a tutor from a university and is determined to catch up with Tang Ci..."
"It's impossible for him to surpass Tang Ci, but it's certainly possible for him to improve by fifty places. I saw that he got almost all of his quizzes right."
...
It's no wonder everyone is discussing it so enthusiastically. By the time students reach their senior year of high school, their grades have already stabilized. At this crucial juncture, breaking into the top 50 is an incredibly difficult feat.
Old Xu placed the bouquet on the podium and tapped the blackboard after the discussion subsided a bit.
"I know everyone is getting impatient waiting for the results, but according to our class's tradition," Old Xu said with a smile, "I'd like to first commend a few students who have made significant progress in this exam."
"Zhou Rui improved her ranking by 19 places in the grade."
"Zhang Xian improved his grade ranking by 24 places."
"Cao Minmin improved her grade ranking by 33 places."
...
At this point, Lao Xu deliberately paused for a moment, and the classmates sitting around Zou Qiang tentatively uttered the name "Zou Qiang".
Old Xu's smile deepened, and he nodded at Zou Qiang, saying, "Zou Qiang, your grade ranking has improved by 47 places this time, which is excellent!"
Faced with Lao Xu's praise and the cheers of the surrounding classmates, Zou Qiang's smile was somewhat forced. He clearly remembered that Lao Xu would only buy flowers to celebrate if he improved his grade by more than fifty places.
But this doubt quickly dissipated amidst the cheers of his classmates. Zou Qiang's face flushed red, and he responded to everyone with feigned humility, his gaze constantly drifting toward the bouquet of gladiolus on the podium.
Old Xu didn't pick up the bunch of gladioli until the noise in the classroom subsided. Then she slowly said, "Our class's results this time are really better than expected. In addition to the students I just mentioned who have made great progress, there is another student in our class who has made progress."
Tang Ci gripped the pen tightly and rubbed the toe of her shoe on the floor.
Old Xu's gaze swept across the large classroom, finally settling on the empty seat next to Tang Ci.
Tang Ci subconsciously held her breath, staring intently at Lao Xu. At this moment, she was like a family member who had been sitting in the audience for a long time, waiting for the judge's verdict.
"Sheng Yu's grades this time," Old Xu said with a smile, looking at Tang Ci, "are an improvement of 109 places in the grade."
"Holy crap!! That's awesome—"
There was a moment of silence in the classroom, then someone shouted, like lighting a firecracker, and the classroom instantly erupted into chaos.
Hearing the exclamations of the crowd, Tang Ci couldn't suppress the smile on her lips and had to lower her head to hide it.
Old Xu tapped the blackboard, warning with a smile, "Alright, be more polite."
Tang Ci's fingertips slid across the smooth tabletop. When she looked up, she saw Zou Qiang staring at her with a livid face.
She paused for a moment, then mouthed to him apologetically, "I'm sorry."
Zou Qiang ignored her kindness and turned around, making a loud noise as the chair hit the stool, but the noise was immediately drowned out by the lively atmosphere.
Old Xu cleared his throat. "It's a pity that Sheng Yu is absent from the class meeting today. Could someone pick up the flowers for him?"
Zhou Yiyang turned around and tapped Tang Ci's table, "Tang Ci, can you go upstairs and get it for Brother Yu?"
Tang Ci glanced at the empty seat beside her, nodded and said okay, but before she could stand up, she heard a knock on the door behind her.
"Should I just collect it myself?"
Tang Ci suddenly turned her head and saw Sheng Yu, dressed in a casual suit, standing outside the door. When he noticed her gaze, he raised an eyebrow at her.
"What are you doing, appearing and disappearing like a ghost?" Old Xu said with a laugh, picking up the bunch of gladiolus and handing it to him.
With his hands in his suit trouser pockets, Sheng Yu calmly walked through the classroom, accepted the bouquet, and returned to his seat.
He casually placed the white gladiolus, wrapped in layers of exquisite tissue paper, on the table, and tilted his head to ask Tang Ci, "Is this the surprise you were talking about?"
Tang Ci looked at his nonchalant attitude and said in a slightly anxious tone, "This is not just a bouquet of flowers, it is your honor."
Sheng Yu gave a soft "oh" and placed the flowers in her arms.
Tang Ci subconsciously took it, touched the smooth wrapping paper, and asked, "Don't you want it?"
Sheng Yu rested his elbow on the table and glanced at her sideways. "The glory is mine, but the flowers are for you."
As the sun dipped halfway down, the evening glow streamed into the classroom through the window, blurring and softening his silhouette, and even his words seemed gentler.
Tang Ci swallowed, feeling that the vague pre-fever symptoms were starting to return.
During the next meeting, Tang Ci sat up straight, but her mind was blank. She finally made it to the end of the school day, only to find the back door surrounded by men and women who had come after hearing the news.
Sheng Yu, the center of attention, leaned lazily back in his chair, occasionally offering a perfunctory reply.
Taking advantage of the chaos, one of the girls made a request, "Brother Yu, this is such a great thing, aren't you going to treat everyone to a meal?"
“When you’re treating someone to a meal, you should treat the person who has done a good job,” Zhou Yiyang said meaningfully. “Brother Yu, how do you plan to thank Tang Ci?”
Instantly, everyone turned to look at Tang Ci, and the boys laughed and offered bad ideas.
"At the very least, you should treat them to a meal."
"Just treating me to a meal isn't enough. Yu-ge, please send me the money."
"Giving money is too mercenary. Why don't you ask them what they want and grant them one of their wishes?"
...
With so many people watching and discussing, Tang Ci turned her body away slightly and said in a low voice, "No need."
Zhou Yiyang noticed her unease and comforted her, "Don't refuse. Sheng Yu is very generous. Take this opportunity to squeeze some money out of him."
Tang Ci zipped up her pencil case, glanced at Sheng Yu who hadn't said a word out of the corner of her eye, and shook her head.
She frantically packed her things, like a hamster surrounded by a group of menacing-looking humans, ready to scurry away at any moment.
Sheng Yu looked at the wisp of hair by her temple, which bounced back and forth with her movements, and felt a tickle in his heart.
Tang Ci turned around in a daze when her pencil case, which she had just finished tidying up, was suddenly taken away.
Sheng Yu toyed with the pencil case zipper between his fingers, raised his eyes and asked her, "I'll give you another chance to choose, are you sure you don't want to?"
A clear, magnetic voice rang in her ears, carrying both impatience and flirtation.
Tang Ci curled her fingertips, her earlobes burning uncontrollably, and asked softly, "Can I have any wish?"
Sheng Yu closed his eyes and said, "Mmm."
Seeing the two of them exchanging questions and answers so smoothly, the surrounding classmates became even more interested.
One of the bolder boys blurted out, "Brother Yu, if Tang Ci asked you to be her boyfriend, would you agree?"
Tang Ci's back stiffened, her head lowered further, and she stammered in defense, "I... I didn't mean that."
Unfortunately, her voice, barely audible, was drowned out by the jeers and failed to travel.
Sheng Yu tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, watching Tang Ci's obedient eyelashes flutter, and chuckled, "You should ask her first."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
