Chapter 18
The results came out very quickly. The wait felt long and agonizing, but in reality, the grade leaderboards were released before the last class the next afternoon. The class was filled with wailing, each one clamoring to see what they had failed. However, the leaderboards posted on the class bulletin boards were so densely packed that those who arrived late couldn't even get a foot in.
Zhang Xiaotian didn't join in the fun. He sat in his seat, chin resting on one hand, his eyes fixed on the group, expressionless. He looked nonchalant, but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous. In fact, his palms were sweating with nervousness. The crowd gathered in front of the grade leaderboard gradually blurred in his eyes. This feeling of anxiety was familiar, and he tried to distance himself. Just as he was about to do so, a particularly conspicuous person emerged from the crowd, with an unmistakable joy on his face.
Lu Bai walked towards him with a smile, but unlike before, he didn't finish what he wanted to say before the person even arrived. This time, he waited until he was firmly seated next to Zhang Xiaotian before speaking: "Guess?"
"Guess what?" Zhang Xiaotian had a vague feeling, but he didn't quite dare to believe it.
"You!" Lu Bai couldn't help but raise his voice slightly, then tried to control it. "What are you guessing?" His gaze was so real that Zhang Xiaotian could practically hear his eyes speaking. He couldn't remain calm under such a burning gaze, and hurriedly lowered his head.
"What......"
"Xiaotian! 72nd place!" Yin Li shouted from beside the bulletin board. "That's amazing!"
"Yin Li! You're so quick to talk! I wanted Tian'er to guess!" Lu Bai couldn't hold it in any longer and finally stood up and shouted, "We're in the top 80! Tian'er!"
"I know!" Zhang Xiaotian had originally just felt relieved, but now seeing how happy they were, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but smile. He felt a small fire in his heart, the warmth made him happy but also a little panicked. He quickly pulled Lu Bai's clothes to make him sit down, "It's not a very good result, what are you two doing..."
"I'm so happy that you can still be my deskmate!" Lu Bai took out a piece of paper with a slightly wrinkled edge and wanted to hand it to Zhang Xiaotian, but he couldn't help but unfold it and take a look at it himself. "I copied down all your grades in each subject, as well as your ranking in each subject. Take a look for yourself."
"You're exaggerating..." Zhang Xiaotian reached out to take it, then retracted his hand halfway. "Quietly, give it to me."
Only then did Lu Bai realize that he was a little too excited. He scratched his head and said awkwardly, "A little... Why aren't you excited at all, Tian'er?"
"What's so exciting..." Zhang Xiaotian sighed, calming himself down before carefully examining his grades. They were just slightly higher, not anything reassuring. His earlier joy faded, and he felt a bit sullen again.
"Let's celebrate together over dinner tonight," Yin Li said, returning to her seat. "I did well on the test this time. Chengcheng and Lu Bai, are you two okay?"
"I can." Han Chengcheng nodded in agreement.
"I'm fine. Where's Tian'er?" Lu Bai turned around and looked at Zhang Xiaotian. "Is your aunt going to pick you up today too?"
"No, she's busy today." Zhang Xiaotian replied.
"That's settled then."
After a break, even the most restless mood settled. When Zhang Xiaotian faced his report card again, his emotions were completely calm. His mind was completely blank, a blank. He watched the teacher walk into the classroom, putting down his books and saying, "Don't think you can relax just because the exam is over. Take out your papers." Suddenly, Zhang Xiaotian felt like everything was just beginning. He should have kept up the momentum and continued studying. But looking down at the paper, his mind wandered.
"What's wrong?" Lu Bai was still reading the manuscript for the poetry recitation and felt that Zhang Xiaotian looked listless. "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"A little." Actually, not really, but Zhang Xiaotian was too lazy to explain.
"Then why do you look less energetic to me?" Lu Bai asked him.
"Nothing." Zhang Xiaotian didn't want to share his changing moods with him, so he asked him, "How are you guys doing? There's a poetry recitation tomorrow."
"It's almost done. It looks pretty good." Lu Bai was excited when he talked about this. "We also got the performance clothes. Guess how we did it?"
"What's so interesting about this?" Zhang Xiaotian wasn't very interested, but he still asked him in a supportive manner, "How did it happen?"
Lu Bai touched his nose and said, "Hehe. My family runs a wedding photography business, so..." At this point, he seemed a little shy and his voice became much lower. "So I bought some suits for you guys to wear."
Suit? Zhang Xiaotian reacted for a moment: "Best man's suit?"
"Yeah." Lu Bai raised his eyebrows, his expression a little mysterious: "I'm telling you, it's very handsome, everyone is upright!"
"Really?" Zhang Xiaotian wanted to laugh when he saw him acting like this. Thinking that he couldn't learn anything anyway, he continued to ask, "Are you guys exactly the same?"
"uh-huh."
"Are you more handsome than those guys?" Zhang Xiaotian laughed at him. "I remember that guy seemed to be taller than you."
"Nonsense!" Lu Bai said with a "tsk!" "I'm the tallest among us!"
"Really?" Zhang Xiaotian imitated him and said, "I don't believe it."
"I don't believe it either." Yin Li also interrupted.
"What do you want?" Lu Bai poked her back with a pen. "Go to your class and study hard!"
"Why aren't you studying hard?" Yin Li straightened her back and turned her head slightly to face the person behind her. "Still arguing with me? If Chengcheng and I hadn't been sitting up straight, you two would have been caught talking in class long ago."
"Then we should thank you two." Lu Bai curled his lips.
"What will the girl who will recite wear? A bridesmaid dress?" Han Chengcheng asked.
"Yeah."
"That must be super beautiful." Han Chengcheng sighed, "I'm a little moved by it."
"It's too late. You're only now getting excited because the performance is tomorrow." Lu Bai said, "Maybe next time."
"Next time is the senior year of high school. Will you still help Li arrange the program practice?" Han Chengcheng asked.
"Will we still have seniors performing at the sports meet?" Yin Li said, "I don't think so."
"Who knows." Lu Bai shrugged.
We have a sports meet tomorrow, so we won't be attending evening self-study. School was almost over, and the few people still attending were losing their focus. The teacher, for once, seemed to be paying no attention to the class's learning. The four of us chatted about some random things and had just decided what to eat when the bell rang. The two girls in front of us had finished their meals quickly, so we grabbed a seat first.
Zhang Xiaotian, not wanting to be kept waiting, packed up quickly. After they finished, they left the classroom together. The corridors were packed with people, and everywhere they went, they could hear about the sports day. The sports day was a rare time to relax at school, and the school allowed students to bring their phones. While no one mentioned it out loud, everyone was still anticipating it. Zhang Xiaotian called out to Lu Bai as they made their way through the crowd, their ears filled with the cacophony of conversation and laughter, a rare moment where he wasn't annoyed.
Lu Bai was walking in front and suddenly turned around and said something.
"What?" Zhang Xiaotian didn't hear clearly and asked back loudly.
"I said I'll bring my tablet tomorrow so we can watch a movie," Lu Bai slowed down his pace and walked side by side with Zhang Xiaotian, "and play some games."
"Okay." Zhang Xiaotian nodded.
Lu Bai nodded, and after a while he said, "Do you want any snacks? We can go buy some after dinner."
"Okay." Zhang Xiaotian nodded.
They hadn't walked a few steps when Lu Bai asked again, "What kind of movies do you like to watch? I'll go back and download some tonight."
"All right." Zhang Xiaotian thought he was a little funny and asked him, "Are you really looking forward to tomorrow's sports meet?"
"No..." Lu Bai said no subconsciously, then changed his words and said, "It is true."
"Kid." Zhang Xiaotian laughed at him.
"Are you much older than me?" Lu Bai also laughed, "Old Man Zhang?"
"Go to hell." Zhang Xiaotian said.
The two of them kept calling each other "Old Man Zhang" and "Little Kid Lu" all the way. It was not until they reached the school gate that Zhang Xiaotian realized how childish he had been.
"I just had fun when I was with you." Zhang Xiaotian was speechless when he recalled the scene just now.
"Isn't it good to be silly and happy?" Lu Bai asked him back, "Just tell me if your mood has improved."
That's right. Zhang Xiaotian nodded.
"As long as I'm in a good mood, that's all." Lu Bai stretched lazily. "Who would be in a bad mood after doing well on the exam?"
"Hmm?" Zhang Xiaotian didn't understand what he meant.
"Hmm what?" Lu Bai glanced at him and put his hand on his other shoulder.
"You did really well in the exam this time. You really slapped Li An in the face. He must be feeling very aggrieved. There are indeed many students in our class with good grades, but there are also those with average grades who are not afraid of being demoted. In fact, there are many people in our class who can rely on this to stay if their grades do not meet the standards in a certain exam." When he said this, he stretched out his thumb and index finger and rubbed them together.
Zhang Xiaotian looked at his hands without saying anything. The two of them walked quite fast along the way, and now the hot pot restaurant they had booked was right in front of them.
Seeing this, Lu Bai scratched his head and simply pulled Zhang Xiaotian to stand at the door. He continued, "What I mean is, it's really amazing that you can improve your ranking so much just to stay. I really admire you. Really, believe me. We can continue to work hard to stay in Class 1, but you don't have to give yourself even a moment of relaxation."
Zhang Xiaotian was completely bewildered by Lu Bai's words. He'd never cared much for other people's concern before, believing he didn't need it. But now, with these few simple words of concern, he felt completely overwhelmed, and he was at a loss for words. Looking at Lu Bai, who was still trying to find words to comfort him, Zhang Xiaotian suddenly felt that he had been a bit self-pitying and pretentious in the classroom this afternoon.
"you are stupid."
Lu Bai also knew that what he said was a mess. He was still thinking about how to continue comforting him. When he heard this out of the blue, he didn't react.
"You, are you okay?" Lu Bai said this and felt stupid.
Zhang Xiaotian really couldn't hold it in anymore this time. He burst out laughing and waved his hand to take Lu Bai's arm away.
"What are you standing there for? Let's go." After saying that, he pushed the door and entered the store without waiting for Lu Bai.
"Finally you two are here."
The hot pot restaurant was filled with steam. Yin Li and Han Chengcheng had been waiting for them for a long time.
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