MNL Chapter 54

Chapter 54: School Starts – The Standard Answer is Wrong.

Chapter 54: School Starts – The Standard Answer is Wrong.

Xu Jing naturally wouldn’t conceal the matter of Yan Mo being bullied at school. He told Qin Xin about it immediately. Qin Xin, being a teacher, was so enraged upon hearing this that she burst into a furious tirade on the spot. Chen Yalin remained silent for an entire afternoon until it was almost time for Yan Mo’s dance class to end. Then, the quietly sitting woman put on her coat, walked out the door, her back view resolute and steady.

Qin Xin and Xu Jing were worried and followed behind. They initially thought Chen Yalin would choose to call the police, but the reality was unexpected. Yan Mo resisted the entire way, but Chen Yalin ignored it completely, running three red lights and driving at a speed of 120 km/h straight to Song Mo’s house. At that time, the butler and nanny in the villa were preparing dinner in the kitchen, and Song Mo’s mother was playing mahjong on the third floor. Chen Yalin dragged Yan Mo in and, upon seeing Song Mo lying on the sofa drinking milk tea, Chen Yalin didn’t hesitate at all. She rushed forward and delivered two hard slaps to Song Mo’s face.

Song Mo was stunned. After glancing back and forth between Yan Mo and Chen Yalin, she burst into a wail.

The butler and nanny, hearing the noise, rushed out. One hurriedly went upstairs to call Song Mo’s mother, while the other was about to lay hands on Chen Yalin but was swiftly kicked to the ground by Xu Jing.

Chen Yalin yanked Song Mo off the sofa, grabbed Song Mo’s hair, and forced her to look up at her. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her words were cold and clear.

“No one is allowed to bully my daughter.”

With a raise and fall of her hand, more loud slaps resounded. Song Mo was beaten until her mouth bled, and she was almost unconscious.

Song Mo’s mother ran downstairs without even putting on her shoes. A pampered lady like her had never seen such a scene. The other mahjong players, afraid of getting involved, quickly ran away. Song Mo’s mother first cried and made a phone call, then immediately ran over to beg Chen Yalin for mercy. Seeing this, Qin Xin also called Xu Huaiyang right away.

Chen Yalin looked at the crying woman beside her and said, word by word, “Since you don’t know how to teach your child, let me teach her a lesson today.”

The scene that followed was chaotic, and the crying in the villa lasted for a long time.

However, one scene left a deep impression on Xu Jing. Yan Mo, who had been standing silently in the corner, finally walked over to Chen Yalin’s side. She crouched down and looked at Song Mo, who was trembling and disheveled, and said, “I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

At this moment, although Song Mo was barely conscious, she understood one thing: from now on, she would have to avoid Yan Mo whenever she saw her.

Considering Song Mo’s previous actions, and with Xu Huaiyang backing them up, the Song family ultimately didn’t dare to escalate the matter. They only had Chen Yalin pay for the medical expenses, salvaging a bit of cheap face, and the matter was dropped.

Afterward, Chen Yalin joined Xu Huaiyang’s company as the general manager of the operations department. Several times, she was too busy with work to get away, so she had to trouble Xu Jing to pick up Yan Mo from dance class. The little girl, wearing a white princess dress, would start running from fifty meters away when she saw Xu Jing standing at the entrance, sweetly calling out “Xu Jing Gege (Brother Xu Jing)” in her soft voice.

“Be careful, don’t fall again.”

“Xu Jing Gege, thank you for picking me up.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

Yan Mo’s bright, beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons as she obediently opened her arms. Xu Jing sighed and crouched down to pick her up.

“Thank you, Xu Jing Gege!”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

“…”

Yan Mo said “thank you” countless times. Xu Jing knew that she wanted to express much more than just that, but she was too young to articulate it properly.

But those unspoken words in real life, he, as an adult, understood. As for the little girl, she should grow up in fairy tales.

·

The time that followed seemed to speed up. In the blink of an eye, it was the start of the school year. Linhe City was still a bit cold, with a slightly gloomy sky and sparse wintersweet blossoms covered in a thin layer of frost. People were coming and going at the entrance of No.1 High School, wearing neat and uniform blue and white school uniforms. Boys were putting their arms around each other’s shoulders, discussing their gaming achievements from the holiday, while girls were holding hands and chatting about the recently popular male celebrities. Steaming breakfast and the sounds of laughter and play broke the silence of this winter-spring season.

A tall, slender figure was extremely eye-catching in the crowd. The boy had a bag slung over one shoulder, and his walking posture carried a casual laziness. The white sweater inside his school uniform covered part of his beautiful chin, revealing exceptionally delicate and clean features.

Xu Jing took off the hat that Qin Xin had insisted he wear before leaving and casually smoothed his somewhat messy hair. He entered the classroom at a leisurely pace, right on schedule according to the school’s notification.

Liang Yin hadn’t arrived yet, and the class was still noisy. As soon as he entered, Xu Jing saw the person sleeping in the corner. For some reason, his mood immediately improved, and even the hat in his hand looked more pleasing to the eye.

Cha Fei’ang heard the movement behind him and immediately interrupted his conversation with Zheng Tong, turning his head with a grin. “Jing Ge, long time no see, did you miss me?”

Zheng Tong, who had just been about to show off that he had gotten a rare equipment drop, was speechless.

Xu Jing didn’t hesitate. “No.”

Cha Fei’ang feigned heartbreak. “You’re just saying that.”

Zheng Tong rolled his eyes at the sky in a perfect eye-roll.

The two of them began to talk enthusiastically about the game again. Xu Jing first glanced lightly to the side, then looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he gently hooked the hand that his deskmate had casually placed on his leg with his semi-curled fingers.

He only intended to touch it and withdraw his hand, but he didn’t expect that the next second, his hand was already being held. The warmth of the palm drove away the coldness from his fingertips.

Xu Jing was stunned for a moment.

“You’re awake?”

No one replied.

He waited quietly like this. After a while, the motionless person beside him finally showed a bit of reaction, slowly raising his head. Eyes filled with sleepiness and confusion landed on Xu Jing’s face, his voice low and hoarse. “Noisy.”

The two hadn’t seen each other since their last parting. Shen Yan’s eyes didn’t have the usual sharpness, but were drowsy like fog, yet still beautiful, causing Xu Jing’s heartbeat to involuntarily accelerate.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Yeah.” Under the desk, two hands were tightly clasped. Shen Yan caressed Xu Jing’s fingers, saying, “It’s nothing.”

But in reality, not only last night, but ever since he made the deal with Shen Linzhi, Shen Yan had often been unable to sleep through the night. Many times, he would wake up from nightmares after only sleeping for a short while, and then be unable to fall asleep for the rest of the time.

“This hat of yours…” Shen Yan paused. Xu Jing immediately stuffed the hat, which he had casually placed on the desk, into his bag, his movements frighteningly fast.

“What’s wrong?”

A composed gaze drifted over. Shen Yan smiled and asked the crucial question, “Did you pick it up from the trash can?”

Xu Jing punched him. “Shut up.”

After the exploitation of the last semester, the first-year students had gotten used to No.1 High School’s high-intensity teaching methods. However, the two-day start-of-term exam was still very painful for most people, especially this time’s math. The last big question was directly beyond the syllabus. As soon as the exam was over, a chorus of complaints rang out in the teaching building.

“I’m really impressed. The ellipse in the last question, I saw it in the second-year textbook.”

“Don’t mention it, I didn’t even understand the question. Who set the question anyway?”

“Zhou Yan.”

“…Oh.”

That’s the old man who’s nearing retirement, who only teaches for fifteen minutes in class, regardless of whether the students understand, and whose Class Four consistently gets the top math scores in the grade.

Okay, that’s normal then.

The exam seats were arranged according to grades. Many people from Class Four were taking the exam in Class One. As soon as the exam was over, several boys urgently surrounded Shen Yan and Xu Jing, wanting to ask for the answers.

One said he hadn’t calculated it, and the other said he had forgotten. Seeing this, the people beside him had no choice but to give up, and after a while, they formed several groups to discuss other questions.

The difficulty of the last question was indeed very high, and the content was beyond the syllabus. Xu Jing wrote out all the steps, but he couldn’t calculate the answer because he couldn’t derive the final formula. Looking at Shen Yan’s calm and collected appearance, Xu Jing frowned. “What’s the answer?”

Shen Yan casually stuffed the test paper into his desk and said, “I forgot.”

“Are you asking for a beating?”

Hearing this impatient tone, Shen Yan was not annoyed but laughed, saying, “Why do you think I would write the last big question? I haven’t learned the second-year content either.”

“You can remember the questions you wrote months ago, and it’s only just out of the exam room now.” Xu Jing glanced at Shen Yan and said, “You’re telling me you forgot?”

Shen Yan replied with an admiring look, “That makes sense.” After speaking, he even touched Xu Jing’s head.

This scene was almost seen by others, and Xu Jing almost blew up.

“Twenty-nine over the square root of thirty-seven.”

Xu Jing was stunned upon hearing the answer. “Are you sure?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Shen Yan’s abilities, but the answer sounded strange.

“Not sure.” Shen Yan said indifferently, “It’s also possible that the standard answer is wrong.”

Xu Jing was speechless.

Having just come out of the holiday, many people’s sleep schedules hadn’t adjusted. After two days of hazy classes, the start-of-term exam results came out quickly, thanks to all the teachers staying up late to grade them. The people in Class Four couldn’t help but curse after seeing the grade list posted in the back.

Shen Yan’s row of grades and final total score ranking only had the number “1,” and no other numbers appeared. Most importantly, this guy actually got 148 on the math exam.

“No comparison, no harm.” Cha Fei’ang looked at his own horrific grades and couldn’t help but roar to the sky, “I’m convinced.”

At this time, Shen Yan and Xu Jing had just returned from the bathroom. They both only glanced casually at the posted list, and then a somewhat dissatisfied voice reached Cha Fei’ang’s ears. “How did I lose two points?”

“…”

Cha Fei’ang wanted to die.

The people standing beside him indicated that they felt the same way.

Xu Jing’s performance this time was similar to his usual level. He got the third-worst grade in English. His math was as he had estimated. He didn’t make any mistakes except for the last question, where he lost seven points. As for the other subjects, he was only second to Shen Yan. Overall, his total score was five points lower than Zhou Ji, ranking sixth in the grade.

Although many people didn’t pay much attention to this start-of-term exam, it was, after all, a formal exam with scores and rankings. They were still upset if their grades weren’t ideal, and the atmosphere in the class unknowingly became heavy.

During evening self-study, Zhou Yan walked around the classroom with his hands behind his back several times. The teacher, who usually didn’t like to talk nonsense in class, suddenly told them to put down their pens.

“I set the exam paper for the start-of-term exam. What do you think of it?”

The classroom was silent.

“Class Representative, what do you think?”

Wen Yi didn’t do well in science this time, especially math, which was simply terrible. She didn’t reply, lowering her head and not daring to meet Zhou Yan’s eyes.

“Math Representative, what do you say?”

Although Lu Hui’s performance was similar to her usual level, it was only in the middle to lower range. She stuttered and couldn’t say anything.

“It seems that the girls in our class are quite shy.”

Zhou Yan had almost never made such jokes in class. He always had a straight and serious appearance, but no one found it funny at this time.

“First of all, I can tell you very clearly that this paper was indeed more difficult. The average score in our class was 99.6, which is twelve points higher than the lowest class. Secondly, my original intention in setting this paper was to hit you hard.”

“…”

The class was silent for another two seconds. Cha Fei’ang couldn’t help but swear, which opened the floodgates for whispers in Class Four.

“By writing this paper, you should also understand your level. You’re ranked in our school, but what about in the province, what about in the country? When I was in high school, I also thought I had a talent for learning math. However, I participated in a competition later. There was a boy in that competition, you know, he could calculate conic sections without even using scratch paper. Although he and I both got first prize in the end, I was very clear about the gap between him and me. There are differences between people from birth. Talent is something that can’t be changed. We can only accept it.”

“But—” Zhou Yan walked to the podium, looked around, and said earnestly, “There is one thing that you must not accept, no matter where you are or what kind of talented people you encounter in the future, and that is losing.”

You can’t admit defeat.

These last words were like a reassurance, pricking the nerve endings of everyone in Class Four. It was undeniable that the blow was indeed great, especially since there was someone in the class who got close to full marks on every exam. Seeing that the grades they got after staying up all night to study were not as high as what others casually got, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss and wanted to give up. But in fact, as Zhou Yan said, talent is something you’re born with, and complaining is the most useless thing to do.

“Shen Yan, come up and write the solution process for the last question on the exam paper.” Zhou Yan looked to the corner, but met the confused look there.

“…”

Xu Jing reminded him softly from the side. Shen Yan frowned, then got up and walked to the podium without even taking the test paper.

The chalk brushed against the blackboard, making a crisp and powerful sound. In just a few minutes, half of the blackboard was already full. Even Xu Jing had to admit that Shen Yan had a naturally good brain. Difficult problems that others racked their brains to solve, this person could write so smoothly even if he had just woken up.

“Shen Yan was the only one in the entire grade who got this question right. It’s really not easy to calculate this answer.”

A sigh arose in the class, and then everyone started copying the answer on the blackboard.

As if they had a telepathic connection, Xu Jing just raised his head when Shen Yan on the podium happened to look over. There was a hint of unclear laughter in his eyes, as if he was showing off, or as if he was asking for credit.

Xu Jing blinked his eyes quickly, turned his head away, and coughed softly.

Hearing the sound, Cha Fei’ang leaned back while copying the answer and whispered, “What’s wrong, Jing Ge?”

“Nothing.”

It’s just that his boyfriend is really too good-looking, Xu Jing thought in defeat.