Chapter 13
When I was young, I was the little devil that no one in the school wanted to mess with.
There are rumors that the red string I wear is unlucky, as it is believed to attract evil spirits and negative energy, and therefore no one usually wears it.
I go my own way, ignoring everyone's attempts to avoid me. Before leaving, I pick up a fallen red maple leaf, spread it out, and secretly tuck it into a book. Then, I go to the cafeteria alone, stand in the long line, and tiptoe to ask the immortal if they have carrots today.
Wu Qi, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of me. He was always shining, always radiant, always full of vigor. He was the king of our generation, always followed by a large group of people when he waved his arm.
We are two extremes, and neither of us needs the other's intervention.
Until that day, I was squatting on the ground drawing talismans when he appeared in front of me in his long boots.
"May I have your name?"
I looked up from the shadows and calmly gazed at him: "Sang Yue."
As a teenager, Wu Qi was just as arrogant as he is now. He repeated my name twice and then said casually, "Come here and play with me."
I hate that I didn't know how to swear back then.
I stared at him for a long time, then turned away and said, "I won't stay."
From then on, the most beautiful red maple in the yard was taken away, and I never had a carrot to myself again.
Now the culprit is sitting next to me, holding an unfinished chemistry quiz.
"Hurry up and bring yours. That old geezer said he'd keep me after school if I don't hand it in."
I rolled my eyes at him and pulled my copy out of the table: "Take this and take a look."
Meng Xiaoqiong returned at this moment, shoving and pushing Wu Qi away: "Get out of here, get out of here, I haven't written anything yet, I'll go first..."
"First come, first served."
Wu Qi sidestepped and tossed two exam papers onto the table behind him, then frantically copied them down.
Meng Xiaoqiong, unable to bear it any longer, grabbed him by the collar and shoved him aside. "Let me look for it first. I have absolutely no recollection of this test paper. If the teacher asks, can I say I have amnesia?"
Wu Qi interjected from behind: "Then the teacher gave you a three-day, three-night intensive course, which resulted in a medical miracle."
Meng Xiaoqiong: "...Damn it, forget it."
It was obvious that the chemistry teacher wasn't just making things difficult for those two; more than half the class were copying each other's work, and the WeChat group was constantly buzzing with people exchanging answers.
I don't know when I became a good student who didn't need "special treatment" and couldn't participate in these complementary homework activities.
I randomly picked up a test paper, and all the subjects in high school had one thing in common: the first question was always a complete idiot, like a brain teaser.
I was working on the second problem when Yu Yuan rushed in, yelling, "A-Yue, I tried to solve this problem using integration!!!"
This posture is quite like an ancient prime minister reporting to the emperor, except that he is about to shout "Your Majesty!" at the top of his lungs.
I retracted the tip of my pen.
Meng Xiaoqiong impatiently sat up on the windowsill, making room for me. Yu Yuan naturally sat down next to me, pushing the test paper aside. "This is it. First, straighten out this equation, then add x to both sides of the equation..."
I was halfway through what they were saying when, for some reason, I suddenly felt a chill on the back of my neck.
This feeling was quickly confirmed. After a moment of silence behind him, Wu Qi smiled and asked Meng Xiaoqiong, "What is this gentleman's surname? Why did you give him your seat as soon as he arrived?"
Did he pay the rent?
It sounded fairly amicable...
That's a joke.
This person never speaks normally; it's never anything good!
I turned to look at Meng Xiaoqiong, and for a moment I even tried to use my mortal eyes to convey the words "speak properly".
Meng Xiaoqiong clearly didn't get it, and shook her head at Wu Qi while saying, "Of course he's from our school, the top student in the grade, a genius, and the school heartthrob. He's also Sang Yue's good brother, the kind of guy we eat and study together!"
This is no joke.
I want Meng Xiaoqiong to swallow the word "la".
Yu Yuan remained silent for a while, the tip of his pen leaving a black dot on the paper.
The temperature dropped sharply.
The chemistry class representative couldn't help but shudder as he collected the papers, and ran off as fast as he could with them.
I heard Wu Qi put his pen on the table, his tone still quite polite: "Really? I haven't heard A-Yue mention it."
Before I could speak, Yu Yuan spoke up first, "I just noticed that Sang Yue has a new student sitting behind her."
Wu Qi laughed again: "I just noticed... It seems that paying attention is nothing special."
Yu Yuan: "That's true. I generally don't pay attention to meaningless things."
Wu Qi: "Your vision is as ordinary as you are."
Yu Yuan turned around and followed Wu Qi with a fake smile: "Some people really have nothing but a pretty face..."
"Oh, excuse me, I still have money."
The two were chatting happily, leaving me sitting there blankly, unable to join in, feeling restless and uneasy.
I looked at this, then at that, and then at Meng Xiaoqiong, who was making a fool of herself. She had grabbed a handful of melon seeds from somewhere and was happily munching on them.
One corner of the classroom was eerily quiet.
I also took the opportunity to reflect on my interpersonal relationships.
As the saying goes, a friend of a friend is a friend, but these two people clearly had no connection before, so why did they seem to have a deep-seated hatred as soon as they met?
That's like a dead man farting; it's sarcastic and nonsensical.
I figured since I didn't understand, I shouldn't say anything carelessly, lest I offend two people. So I stammered, "Ah, this question... I think I understand what you mean. It should be fine, but I'm not sure if it's a special case. I'll find some example questions to look at later..."
Yu Yuan's eyes lit up. "Really? The math competition is coming up soon, and this method is much simpler than solving quadratic equations."
I asked, "A math competition?"
Yu Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, I've been number one on the gold list for the past few years, I need to maintain this position."
Upon hearing this, I glanced at Wu Qi and then noticed that Wu Qi's expression behind me was so dark that words could not describe it.
I understand why he was giving me attitude. After all, he has always been the most outstanding person around me since we were young, and he was also ranked first in our class. Now that someone even more outstanding has appeared around me, it must have made him lose face.
There's nothing we can do about it; what matters most in this world is learning, and Wu Qi has no interest in that.
"It's best not to let him hear it. Ignorance is bliss," I kindly asked Wu Qi. "Why don't you go outside for a while?"
He glared at me.
...
Okay.
Yu Yuan asked me, "Why don't you sign up this time? Sang Yue is so talented, do you want to give it a try?"
I quickly waved my hand and said, "No, no, I'll definitely do it next time."
There won't be a next time. I'll be going back to heaven next year, and from now on, math will be a total spit out.
When the bell rang, Meng Xiaoqiong finally sat back down in her seat. I finally felt the air was much lighter, and my desire to listen to the lesson increased significantly.
The only awkward thing is... I feel a little uneasy about it.
I kept an eye on what was happening behind me—there was no movement.
Logically speaking, Wu Qi shouldn't be so quiet. He should probably turn around and question me about how math competitions are bullshit, then smile back with a look of utter contempt, as if everything is garbage.
Instead of something like this, where there's no sound for ten minutes during class.
Still worried, I looked out the window again, and Wu Qi caught me red-handed.
"What do you want to ask?" he asked.
"..."
I choked for a moment, then comforted him, "Math competitions are just for ordinary people to prove themselves; you don't need to take them to heart."
Wu Qi asked in a low voice, "So, did you take it to heart?"
I answered quickly: "Of course not."
Wu Qi propped his forehead up and pressed his temple hard: "Then why are you two studying the problem together?"
"I……"
That's beyond the scope of the curriculum.
How do I answer that?
My first reaction was to bring up the mission, saying that the homeroom teacher asked me to lead the learning, but Yu Yuan is not even in our class, and he didn't even pass the step of understanding the question.
I think this is a problem that arises from human evolution. Why do we have to learn something just because we've been here? Wouldn't it be better to be a carefree, leisurely person?
The math teacher was speaking about something important at the front.
"By the way, classmates, the math competition is coming up again this year. Is there anyone in our class who wants to participate? If not, that's fine."
Meng Xiaoqiong scoffed from the side, "Asking every year, asking every year, and no one pays attention, yet still asking. This teacher must be bored."
Tian Qingqing whispered, "That's right, our class is full of useless people and Bald Qiang."
Li Guangheng: "...I'm going to call the police!"
I overheard him and was just about to think of how to explain it to Wu Qi when I heard him ask from behind, "A-Yue, was it him who treated you to pudding last time?"
"Uh-huh?"
What does this have to do with anything?
Seeing that I didn't react for a long time, Wu Qi seemed to understand (I don't know what he understood, and I didn't dare to ask).
The math teacher called out, "If no one is here, let's continue the lesson... Does Wu Qi have a question?"
I turned around with the rest of the class and saw Wu Qi, who usually stayed out of everything and whose only activity was sleeping, raising his hand high.
The whole class fell silent.
"Teacher, I'm registering—ah, I wasn't talking in my sleep."
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