Chapter 18 Who Needs You!
Peng Chengyi was stunned, and looked up incredulously at the boy next to her who was being made to stand as punishment by the head teacher.
He kept his eyelids drooping and didn't exchange a single glance with her.
It's as if this comic book was naturally his.
It has absolutely nothing to do with her.
"You spend your evening study session sleeping and reading comics? What do you think school is?"
"Look at your deskmate, how much he knows how to study!"
"And look at you, always so lazy and irresponsible. Be careful you don't even get into high school next year!"
...
Amidst the headmaster's stern and impassioned reprimand, Chen Yubai's expression remained unchanged, while Peng Chengyi lowered her head in shame.
The surrounding area was completely silent; no one dared to look up and watch the spectacle.
"I've confiscated the book. Go back and write an 800-word self-criticism, to be handed in before school ends tomorrow."
It seems that by making an example of someone who doesn't follow the rules, they have served as a warning to others.
After a 15-minute reprimand, the head of student affairs did not continue the search and left the classroom with his hands behind his back.
Peng Chengyi looked at Chen Yubai, who had just sat down, with mixed feelings. She shrank her neck and whispered to him, "I'm sorry..."
Chen Yubai shrugged indifferently: "It's okay, you can write the self-criticism for me."
“…Hmm.” Peng Cheng nodded, feeling guilty.
Although the ending was still bitter, it was much better than her own hidden comic books being discovered.
Otherwise, she doesn't know how much Peng Weiguo and Zhou Lifen would scold her, and the comic books at home would probably suffer as well.
Because they allowed her to read comics on the condition that it wouldn't interfere with her studies.
Later, she asked him curiously how he knew she had hidden comic books in her desk drawer.
Because when she took out the comic to peek at it earlier, he was clearly sleeping on the table. It was only after she hid the comic and then quickly woke him up with her elbow.
He chuckled lazily, saying that her seemingly calm demeanor actually betrayed her panic, which was why he could tell at a glance that she had hidden something in her desk drawer.
As for why he helped her, he said it casually.
"I'd get scolded for sleeping anyway, so one more thing won't make a difference."
That being said, Peng Chengyi felt that no one else in the world, besides him, would be willing to take the blame for her.
Thinking of this, she put away the comic book under her textbook and obediently started studying.
Less than five minutes later, the teacher indeed walked in silently through the open back door of the classroom.
Then they confiscated the phone of a boy in the back row.
"Let me reiterate, cell phones are not allowed in the classroom. If you're caught, they will be confiscated, and your parents will be called to pick them up." Chen Peifu walked to the podium with his hands behind his back, glanced around, and asked, "Does everyone understand?"
"I understand..."
Peng Chengyi, still feeling lingering fear, responded in unison.
Luckily, she had just put the comic book away; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to notice the teacher coming in through the back door immediately.
Nine times out of ten, she will suffer the same fate as that boy.
After the teacher left, Peng Chengyi subconsciously turned around and glanced at Chen Yubai in the back row.
As if he knew she would turn to look at him, he leaned back lazily in his chair and gave her a slight smile.
"..."
Damn it, he tricked me again.
Peng Chengyi quickly looked away, cursing inwardly.
-
Just as Chen Wei had predicted, the post recruiting a bassist went unanswered for a long time.
At first, Peng Chengyi would occasionally think about replying to the post and bumping it up.
Later, with the arrival of the first monthly exam, Peng Chengyi no longer had time to reply to posts and focused all her attention on the exam.
Although this monthly exam was relatively casual and there were no separate exam rooms, it was just to assess everyone's level.
But for Peng Chengyi, this was a crucial moment to prove that she was no less capable than Chen Yubai.
The weekend before the monthly exam, she didn't even go home; she stayed at school and studied in the library.
Chen Yubai went home by himself because he had to attend a guitar lesson.
Therefore, before receiving the exam paper on Monday, Peng Chengyi was quite confident, feeling that she would definitely be able to beat him this time.
The test turned out to be much more difficult than she had expected.
She racked her brains to answer until the very last second before the papers were collected, but she still had no idea how well she could answer.
However, her classmates reacted similarly, complaining that the question was so difficult and that it was supposed to be a casual test.
Zheng Xinyue grabbed her hair and sobbed, "It's all over, it's all over! I feel like I'm going to be at the bottom of the whole grade, and my plan to go to the desert during the National Day holiday is going to be ruined!"
Although Chen Wei did not express any particular opinion as usual, her expression showed a hint of distress.
As for Chen Yubai, whom she cared about most, he did say while Ling Baizhou was grabbing him to check the answers, "This question is indeed not easy, and I'm not very confident either."
Seeing this, Peng Chengyi's shattered confidence regained a little.
The monthly exam papers were graded very quickly, and the score and ranking tables were posted in less than two days, just before the National Day holiday.
Looking at the crowd swarming to the blackboard, Peng Chengyi took a deep breath before standing up from her seat, her heart pounding.
The report card wasn't posted high enough, and the tall boy in front blocked it, so she, standing at the back, couldn't see anything.
But she was too embarrassed to squeeze in, so she could only anxiously circle around on the outside.
Suddenly, Ling Baizhou turned around and shouted at Chen Yubai, who was still sitting leisurely in his seat: "Damn, Chen Yubai, you're still number one in the grade, awesome!"
Peng Chengyi was taken aback, and incredulously stood on tiptoe, wanting to immediately confirm whether it was true or not.
Finally, through a gap in the crowd, she saw the name at the very top of the report card.
Chen Yubai, ranked 1st in class and 1st in grade.
...
The sky has fallen.
How did he manage to do that?!
Peng Chengyi stared blankly at his name until the crowd in front of him dispersed a bit, revealing more of the rankings below.
She glanced down blankly and found her name.
Peng Chengyi, ranked 8th in class and 110th in grade.
There are a total of 952 first-year students at No. 1 High School, and the rate of students entering top-tier universities is as high as 85% every year. Her ranking in this grade is quite good.
After all, she had worried that she might be ranked at the bottom since she came from an obscure junior high school with only two classes in the grade.
But Chen Yubai came in first place.
This means that even if she brings home this fairly good report card, she won't receive many words of praise.
I reckon Zhou Lifen will say something like, "Look at Chen Yubai."
Thinking of this, Peng Chengyi unconsciously clenched her hands hanging at her sides.
As she walked towards her seat, feeling a tightness in her chest, she glanced at the boy in the last row of the classroom.
He still looked languid, his long arms casually draped over the back of the chair, leaning to the side as he spoke to Ling Baizhou, who had returned to his seat.
He didn't notice the resentment in her eyes.
After looking at the report card, Zheng Xinyue caught up with her with some envy and said, "Chengcheng, you're amazing! You made it into the top ten in the class!"
Peng Chengyi then lowered her gaze and turned to say, "I'm not that great. I didn't even make it into the top 100 in my grade."
"Top 150 is amazing! The experimental class alone takes up 50 spots, so your grades are outstanding even in a regular class. Look at me, I'm only ranked 720th in the grade. I'm not at the bottom, but I'm close..." Zheng Xinyue praised her generously.
Peng Chengyi smiled sheepishly: "I might have been lucky this time, while you might have had a bit less luck in the exam."
Having been successfully comforted by her, Zheng Xinyue immediately said, "I'll go back and do some divination to see when my luck will turn around."
-
Tomorrow is the National Day holiday. After the results are announced and the test papers are handed out, school will end early.
Peng Chengyi was still packing her schoolbag when Chen Yubai arrived at her desk.
"How many books are you taking back with you on vacation? Why haven't you finished packing yet?"
He slung his backpack over one shoulder and asked lazily.
"..."
Peng Chengyi paused, lifted his eyelids, and glanced at his somewhat deflated backpack.
My already bad mood intensified several times over.
"Aren't you going to take any books home to study during your seven-day holiday?" she snapped at him.
"I brought my homework," Chen Yubai patted his backpack, indicating that it wasn't empty.
"Being first in the grade is something to be proud of. You can just do homework during the holidays." Peng Chengyi couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark to him.
Chen Yubai smiled nonchalantly: "Yeah, I'm smart, there's nothing I can do about it."
"Who knows if you secretly studied high school courses during the summer vacation?" Peng Chengyi chuckled, stuffed the last study guide into her already overflowing backpack, and zipped it up.
Chen Yubai: "Didn't you make me learn guitar during the summer vacation? Where would I find the time to preview high school courses?"
"Do you spend all your time practicing the piano except for eating and sleeping?" Peng Chengyi said skeptically.
"More or less, otherwise how could I know more chords than you?"
Peng Chengyi was slightly taken aback.
She always thought that he played better than her because his fingers were naturally longer and stronger.
She never imagined that he had practiced more than she had.
He wasn't particularly interested in playing the guitar at first.
What is he trying to achieve by practicing so hard?
She couldn't understand it, so naturally she didn't believe it.
She always felt that this was just an excuse he used to cover up the fact that he had studied high school courses during the summer vacation, in order to appear smarter than her.
Just like her.
He couldn't help but chuckle and say, "Come on, stop pretending in front of me."
Chen Yubai chuckled and glanced at her, saying, "What am I pretending for? I think you secretly studied it during the summer vacation, that's why you're saying that to me."
"..."
Peng Chengyi, stung by his words, slung her heavy schoolbag over her shoulder, and strode out of the classroom, no longer wanting to talk to him.
School ended early today, and the buses, which avoided the evening rush hour, were much emptier.
Still angry, Peng Chengyi grabbed the last single seat in front of her and plopped down in it.
Chen Yubai, who was following behind her, paused and glanced down at her: "Aren't there empty double seats in the back?"
"I want to sit here. You can go sit in the back."
Peng Chengyi, who didn't want to talk to him, took out the math test paper from the monthly exam without looking up and started studying the wrong questions.
After studying it for a while, she realized that the figure looming over her head hadn't left, so she looked up and said, "Why are you still standing here?"
Chen Yubai paused for two seconds, then said calmly, "I feel you might need me."
Peng Chengyi chuckled: "Who needs you? There's not enough time during the exam. Now, if I think about it more, I can solve it myself. You should go sit in the back, or there won't be any seats left."
Chen Yubai: "I just want to stand. I've been sitting in the classroom for too long."
Peng Chengyi: "..."
Oh well, let him stand if he wants.
She can just ignore him.
Peng Chengyi lowered his head again and continued to think about the correct solution to the wrong question.
She did manage to solve the first two multiple-choice questions after adjusting her approach.
But when it came to the last big question, she racked her brains for several stops but still couldn't figure it out.
Was she going to contradict herself and ask the dog next to her?
Peng Chengyi gripped the pen in her hand tightly, quietly raised her head slightly, and quickly glanced at Chen Yubai.
He held onto the overhead handrail with his long arms, looked out the window, and had earphones in his ears.
He had a relaxed and carefree demeanor.
He seemed completely unconcerned about when she would talk to him again.
Seeing this, Peng Chengyi was even more embarrassed to ask him to help her with the problem.
He could only silently avert his gaze and lower his head.
But the next second, his well-defined hand suddenly appeared in front of her, and his slender fingertips lightly tapped her test paper.
"You've used the wrong formula here."
-----------------------
Author's Note: There's one more chapter coming up! [Dog head carrying a rose][Dog head carrying a rose][Dog head carrying a rose]
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