Chapter 101: Not What Was Wished For
In the early morning campus, the third-year students’ shouts were thunderous.
Each class was led by its class president, shouting “one, two, three, four,” and then their class slogans. After one class finished, the next would begin, and so on. It had to be said that the effect was very impressive.
The third years had already started their morning reading. The second-year students, having just returned from the cafeteria, witnessed this scene.
“Why are they shouting?” Ruan Xi asked.
“They had their hundred-day oath ceremony on the day you went out to play,” Tong Yao explained. “Now they have to shout every day to cheer themselves on.”
The two of them had met in the cafeteria and walked to the classroom door together.
Upstairs, another class began its relay of shouts.
“In another year, you’ll be like this too,” Tong Yao smiled. “Isn’t it like a battle?”
“Mhm…” The young girl listened in a daze. “It feels… very heroic.”
The college entrance examination was probably the most epic event for most students before they became adults. Succeed or die trying.
“Go for it, so you won’t have regrets in the future,” Tong Yao’s eyes curved into a smile, and she tapped the young girl’s forehead. “I’m going to Class 1 first.”
“Mhm, goodbye, Teacher Tong.”
Ruan Xi reluctantly entered the classroom.
In the second semester of the second year of high school, most people had already realized the urgency of the third year. Some people began to feel anxious, some lost their rhythm, and some wanted to strive but couldn’t catch up. In comparison, the young girl, who had been working hard for half a year, was beginning to truly appreciate the joy of learning. Mastering concepts, conquering difficult problems, the sense of frustration was decreasing, and the sense of accomplishment was increasing.
She was lucky, but luck alone was far from enough. There was also the price of sweat and tears.
The early morning classroom was not so harmonious.
“Yo, Shi Renjie, studying so early.”
“What a study demon.”
At the back of the classroom, a group of boys who had finished breakfast came back. As they passed by a boy’s desk, they said in a sarcastic tone.
And the boy they were being sarcastic about, Shi Renjie, lowered his head and covered his ears to memorize vocabulary.
Perhaps many classes would have a person who was mocked by the group and excluded from all small circles. This kind of person may have done something stupid, or their personality may not fit in with everyone else. And so, they became a toilet tile that everyone could step on. They might resist, but in the face of the tyranny of the majority, their resistance was as laughable as a clown’s.
In Class 7, Shi Renjie was such a character.
Ruan Xi didn’t know much about him, only that he came from the countryside and studied very hard. But the sad thing was that his hard work seemed to have never been favored by the heavens. He had made almost no progress in the last semester. Many people said he was serious on the surface, but behind his back, they mocked, “He’s still average even though he works so hard.” That was a secret joy, and also an excuse for themselves not to work hard.
Ji Chen’s academic excellence was consistent, and everyone praised him. Ruan Xi’s academic progress was rapid, like growing at several times the speed, and everyone admired her. And Shi Renjie, if one had to describe everyone’s psychology, it would probably be—
Schadenfreude.
As for why Shi Renjie was isolated by everyone, there were many reasons.
One was that he studied desperately. He really did. He never took a lunch break, always stayed in the classroom to do practice problems, and never had any entertainment activities. When the teacher asked a question, his raised hand was as straight as Ultraman firing a laser. Everyone thought this person was a lost cause, only knew how to study, had a very small scope, and his grades were still average. He was probably studying himself stupid.
The second reason was that Shi Renjie had once said something astonishing. One day, like a medieval French knight, he had, in a chuunibyou and comical way, issued a challenge to the innocent Ji Chen in front of several people—claiming that “I will definitely defeat you in the next exam.” At that time, many people thought this person was an idiot. And the result of that exam was that Ji Chen had beaten him by several dozen points. From then on, Shi Renjie lived more like a joke.
After that, some rumors also came. Some people said that Shi Renjie didn’t shower for several weeks in the summer, and some said that Shi Renjie rarely brushed his teeth. The sudden malice and attacks were overwhelming. In the entire positive and upward-looking class, the unhealthy trend seemed to have all been poured onto this boy. The cold violence of the top students was no weaker than the physical violence of a bad school.
Ruan Xi frowned. She didn’t like Shi Renjie, but she didn’t dislike him either. Instead, she felt that those who mocked him were very tasteless. Of course, when she knew about Shi Renjie’s challenge to Ji Chen, she also felt that it was overestimating himself and asking for trouble.
To want the glory of a successful challenge, but not to bear the ridicule of a failed challenge, there was no such good thing in the world.
“Study demon, teach me how to study,” a boy said with a grin to Shi Renjie. The others roared with laughter, all thinking it was a joke and very humorous.
Shi Renjie glanced at him, clenched his book, and continued to memorize vocabulary.
“Can’t you not disturb him from aiming for the first in the grade?” another girl passed by and playfully patted the boy.
Ruan Xi sat in the first row. She found it hard to believe that those usually kind faces would become so sharp and mean when facing this overly serious boy.
“You study like this every day, how come you’re not making any progress? Ruan Xi is about to break into the top one hundred.”
The two words “progress” were a pain in Shi Renjie’s heart. He seemed to have been provoked and glared at the person who had said this. That person was startled for a moment, but soon felt embarrassed—he had actually been scared by the person with the lowest status in the class!
He wanted to continue to mock Shi Renjie, but suddenly, a voice came from the front.
“Why are you bringing me up?”
Ruan Xi sat sideways, looking at the back. “I’ve made great progress because I have Teacher Tong’s help. Shi Renjie is very hardworking. Maybe his study method is wrong. If the method is right, he will definitely improve a lot.”
The boy gave an awkward smile. “I was just saying.”
He didn’t want to ruin the goddess of the class’s impression of him.
Yes, goddess. The current Ruan Xi was famous throughout the grade. Her grades, her looks, and her manga, she was the undisputed little goddess. The number of her online admirers could form several soccer teams.
She was probably the first person in the class to speak up for Shi Renjie, or maybe not. It seemed that someone had done so before, but in the end, they would only be mocked by the others. But Ruan Xi would not. There were already enough people around her. No classmate would mock her. To mock her was to provoke her circle.
Shi Renjie was stunned in his seat, staring blankly at Ruan Xi. The prettiest girl in the class was not looking at him, but was seriously memorizing her book, her side profile as flawless as white jade, her delicate braid draped over her back, able to satisfy all the fantasies of an adolescent boy about his first love.
And so, in a corner that Ruan Xi would not notice, a seed of a secret crush, not silently, but with a bang, sprouted.
**
In the afternoon, at the school gate, there was a rather flashy BMW.
Tong Yao received a call, went out, and at the car window, Tong Hua was waving at her.
“Brother? Whose car is this?”
“I bought it for your sister-in-law,” Tong Hua said with a grin. “My studio is set up. Want to go see? I’ve hired a few people.”
Witness the birth of League of Legends?
Tong Yao was a little interested. She looked at her phone. There was enough time for a round trip. So she got in the car. As soon as she sat down, she felt a little uncomfortable.
“Isn’t this seat too far back?” she complained slightly. “The backrest is almost flat.”
“I don’t know. I rarely drive this car. Your sister-in-law parked it downstairs today, so I just drove it over.”
“Oh.”
Tong Yao tried to adjust the seat to a normal position. Her hand fumbled under the seat. Suddenly, she touched a small plastic bag. She was taken aback for a moment, took it out, and when she saw what was inside, her face turned a little dark—
An unused, loose, and rather cheap-looking condom.
“Can’t you not just leave this kind of thing lying around? You and sister-in-law are playing so wild in the car?”
Tong Hua was also stunned. “She and I don’t need to use this…”
Inside the car, it suddenly became very quiet.
