LWDC Chapter 60

Chapter 60: The Blow

Chapter 60: The Blow

Chapter 60: The Blow

Ning Fei’s fabrication was believed by Lin Shengjia. Otherwise, who would buy an air conditioner, bed, and mobile phone for someone they just met?

And after Lin Shengjia relayed it to Luo Chenghong without any suspicion, Luo Chenghong also believed it.

He didn’t think buying those material things was a big deal. Instead, seeing someone like Duan Yunhong being led around by the nose made him realize that their relationship was not simple.

However, Luo Chenghong didn’t completely believe Ning Fei’s nonsense. He suspected that Duan Yunhong still had a backup plan and was just going along with the “act.” For example, once Ning Fei improved Lin Shengjia’s grades, Duan Yunhong would immediately push the Ji family to recognize him. Anyway, by then, Lin Shengjia would genuinely be a good student, and the Ji family would be even more eager to take him back, making Lin Shengjia’s desire to stay away from the Ji family even harder to achieve.

Using the other party’s strength against themselves was indeed a labor-saving move, but Luo Chenghong felt it took too much time. He still thought it was better to directly disrupt Lin Shengjia’s studies, causing him to fail the college entrance examination, or even not participate at all. That way, ruining Lin Shengjia’s mission would be incredibly easy.

That’s what he thought, and that’s what he did. Before Ning Fei came, Luo Chenghong was almost able to “abduct” Lin Shengjia. If they had really set off for Shenzhen, Lin Shengjia’s studies would have definitely been ruined. But then Ning Fei suddenly appeared, posing as an “English teacher” and disrupting Luo Chenghong’s plan.

Ning Fei’s cleverness lay in the fact that he bypassed Lin Shengjia and acted directly against Lin’s parents. No matter how mature Lin Shengjia was inside, or how much he wanted to give up studying, he (his body) was still a minor. Minors had to accept parental supervision, otherwise, even if they ran away, their parents could report them to the police and have them caught and brought back.

To some extent, Ning Fei’s position as “teacher” was more persuasive to Lin’s parents than Luo Chenghong’s position as “younger brother.”

Luo Chenghong began to consider other tactics.

—Lin Shengjia started listening to Ning Fei after Ning Fei “revealed his identity,” right? That must have made him feel like he had found a helper…

What if he knew that if he made another choice, he could also have a “similar” helper?

*

Before Luo Chenghong could change his course of action, the school’s monthly exam arrived.

The teachers graded the papers quickly, and the results were released the day after the exam. Ning Fei stood on the podium, calling out names one by one, and the students would come up to receive their papers. Only scores above 90 were announced; scores below 90 were only identified by name. However, students whose grades had improved would receive extra praise from Ning Fei.

Ji Xingzhe, who was usually at the top of the English class, scored 98 this time, ranking second. Because the class monitor had an exceptional performance and got a perfect score, ranking first in the entire grade, Ji Xingzhe had nothing to say.

And Lin Shengjia, of course, wasn’t called out to receive his score.

Ning Fei handed him his paper with a slight smile: “There’s been improvement. Keep up the good work.”

The evaluation was simple, as if it were just a casual remark. Lin Shengjia glanced at the score, whispered “Thank you,” and turned to go back to his seat.

Many students in the class were a little disappointed that they didn’t get to hear his score. The main reason was that Lin Shengjia’s previous score of 28 was too “shocking,” and everyone wanted to know if he had caused another stir this time. However, the new English teacher didn’t shout out Lin Shengjia’s score like the previous one, so it seemed that Lin Shengjia had really made progress.

Then again, with a score of 28, anyone could score higher just by guessing, right? And since neither Ning Fei nor Lin Shengjia seemed very excited, it was likely that even if there was improvement, the increase was very limited.

Not long after Lin Shengjia returned to his seat, Ning Fei began to go over the exam paper, and he finally spread his paper out on the desk. His deskmate couldn’t help but turn his head and take a look, and was immediately a little surprised: “65! You passed this time!”

The deskmate actually remembered to lower his voice, but the student in front heard it and turned around to see if it was true. After confirming Lin Shengjia’s score, the student in front began to spread the news to those around them. Before long, almost half the class knew Lin Shengjia’s score. Although 65 was still definitely at the bottom, Lin Shengjia hadn’t passed the English subject since the beginning of the semester! It was no wonder that his deskmate was so surprised.

Ning Fei noticed this small commotion, but he ignored it and continued to explain the paper calmly.

Ji Xingzhe naturally heard about it too. He just pretended to unintentionally notice the commotion in Lin Shengjia’s direction, and then asked, as if casually, “What’s going on over there?” His deskmate quickly told him Lin Shengjia’s score.

—Less than a month, from 28 to passing…

Ji Xingzhe glanced at Lin Shengjia and then at Ning Fei on the podium. Although he scored 98, and he and Lin Shengjia were still worlds apart, falling to second place and Lin Shengjia’s progress inevitably made him feel anxious.

—Tsk, why can’t he just be down and out from now on?

What exactly happened during the previous summer vacation? Could it happen again, and hit him hard again…

*

In the afternoon, after school, Ji Xingzhe and several of his friends left the teaching building together. They were planning to go to the nearby high-end Western restaurant for dinner in Ji’s family’s car outside the school gate.

“…Hey, let me tell you something interesting.” Zhu Yueting was among them, walking backward while casually chatting with her friends, “That guy in our class who got 28 on the last English exam, he passed this time!”

A boy from another class replied, “Oh, that top student you guys mentioned?”

“He’s an ex-top student, I told you, his grades plummeted when he came this semester! I don’t know what he did during the summer vacation, it’s like he’s a different person. He used to be a bookworm, but at least his grades were good. Now he doesn’t look as nerdy as before, but I always feel like he’s out of place with everyone in the class, especially low-class.” Zhu Yueting sighed, “And his grades used to be so good, but now they’re so bad, doesn’t he feel ashamed at all? He’s shameless when the teacher scolds him, it’s so annoying, that kind of person!”

“If that’s the case, why is he suddenly working so hard now?” the boy asked in confusion, “According to you, he should have continued to be a failure until the school advised him to drop out.”

“He and Teacher Ning live across the hall from each other.” Ji Xingzhe finally spoke, “Teacher Ning said he knows his parents, maybe Teacher Ning is helping him with tutoring in private.”

“Tutoring? Him?” Zhu Yueting said in surprise, “Teacher Ning’s tutoring fees aren’t low, can that Lin Shengjia afford Teacher Ning’s tutoring fees?”

“Living close doesn’t necessarily mean he needs to pay for tutoring.” Ji Xingzhe said calmly, “He just goes to knock on the door across the hall and ask questions, would Teacher Ning not answer him?”

“Asking questions…” Another tall boy from the third year of high school narrowed his eyes, “Speaking of which, does your Teacher Ning participate in setting the monthly exam questions?”

“This, I’m not too sure.” Ji Xingzhe looked at him, appearing to seriously consider it, “Teacher Ning is new here, in theory, they wouldn’t let him set the questions so quickly, right? But he has overseas experience, he’s a top student…”

“Even if he doesn’t set the questions, the teachers are all in the same office, it’s normal for him to see, hear, or even participate in discussions, right?” the third-year boy said, “If that Teacher Ning is also tutoring that guy who got 28 in English, regardless of whether that guy’s actual English level has improved, it wouldn’t be difficult to improve his test score in a short amount of time.”

“Are you saying Teacher Ning he…” Ji Xingzhe widened his eyes, “That’s impossible, Teacher Ning also tutors me, his classes are very interesting and in-depth. Although he’ll say what areas are likely to be important, he’ll never leak the questions!”

“I’m not talking about you, Xiao Zhe, why are you getting so excited? Your grades are so good, you don’t need the questions leaked.” The third-year boy acted like he had been through it all before, “Someone in our year tried a similar idea, supposedly trying to get the midterm exam questions in advance. After all, the midterm exam results are used as a reference for the recommendations, it’s not surprising that someone would take the risk to try.”

Zhu Yueting said, “But this is just a monthly exam, what’s the point of leaking the questions? Besides, even with leaked questions, he only scored 65, that’s not high.”

“You’re all students, of course you think it doesn’t matter.” The third-year boy replied, “But that English teacher has work performance to consider. According to you, he’s a returnee from overseas and a young, new teacher, it’s not strange that he’d find a way to raise the low scores to make his work look better, right? Although that person only scored 65, at least he passed, and the average score won’t be dragged down too much.”

“Qin Ran, what you’re saying makes a lot of sense!” The more Zhu Yueting listened, the more she felt that he was right, “But would Teacher Ning really do that? Tsk, I thought he looked handsome and gentlemanly, a lot of girls in the class like him. If he really did something like that, that’s really disgusting, that kind of person should get out of here quickly!”

“Gentlemanly? He lives across the hall from that Lin Shengjia who has no money at home, doesn’t that mean he doesn’t actually have much money? The way he acts at school is all an act, right?” The third-year boy Qin Ran continued to express his opinion, “Xiao Zhe, you’ve had him tutoring you, haven’t you noticed anything?”

Ji Xingzhe hesitated for a moment: “So far, I’ve only had one tutoring session, he came on a motorcycle…”

“That’s right! He only has a motorcycle, and it’s not even a new one!” Zhu Yueting felt even more that what Qin Ran was saying made sense, “Xiao Zhe, didn’t you also say that he didn’t agree when you wanted him to tutor you before, until your mother said that the tutoring fees wouldn’t be less, then he nodded? He must not have much money!”

Qin Ran nodded, “That makes sense, he has to make some achievements at our school to have a better future. Otherwise, if his family conditions were very good, why would he care so much about the school’s assessment.”

Ji Xingzhe still looked somewhat unconvinced, “But he really did study abroad. When I said I wanted to ask him for tutoring, my family asked the school to check his resume, and the personnel file does have it…”

“Publicly funded study abroad, then.” Qin Ran said indifferently, “Just like that ex-top student in your class, he got in based on his grades. But what if he got in, he still has to live in a poor, old neighborhood, waiting to get rich?”

“And then climb up by helping students cheat?” Zhu Yueting made a vomiting gesture, “Being poor isn’t the problem, using any means to climb up is a big problem. Disgusting, Xiao Zhe, don’t tell me you still want to continue having him tutor you! You quickly go home and tell your parents, I’m going to tell them too, I don’t want to be taught by a teacher like that anymore.”

“But…” Ji Xingzhe still had a hesitant expression, but looking at his companions’ gazes, he finally lowered his head slightly, “Okay, I’ll ask and see if we can investigate first. We can’t wrongly accuse teachers and classmates for no reason, right?”