Chapter 8: Double Happiness
Xu Ming finally brought himself to stop and rest. The Subject Experience Points for Physics on his panel had grown to 37. Stretching lazily, he saw that the seat next to him was still empty, making him doubt whether his deskmate would arrive on time.
"That Qian Hong guy must still be at the internet cafe, right? Isn't he afraid of Li Wenhui writing it down in his little notebook and handing it over to the class teacher?"
Muttering to himself, he turned his head and saw it was almost six o'clock, immediately deciding to fill his stomach first.
"Let's go eat first."
As soon as the words left his lips, he grabbed his lunchbox and stood up to leave.
Perhaps it was fate, or enemies meeting on a narrow road. Xu Ming arrived at the cafeteria, and had just gotten his food but hadn't found a place to eat yet, when two familiar figures suddenly appeared before him.
It was Zhang Yingxin and her deskmate Zhao Xin.
He looked up calmly and said, "Excuse me, please."
He didn't avoid them.
Zhao Xin had clearly sought him out deliberately, her face flushed with anger. She looked every bit like she was about to demand justice for her friend.
She suddenly took a step forward, blocking his way with her body, full of aggression.
"I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person. You couldn't wait even with only three months left, and insisted on forcing Xinxin to define your relationship."
"And now you're deliberately avoiding her."
"Do you know, Xinxin said that ever since she started interacting with you, her grades have fallen sharply."
After hearing these words, Xu Ming's brows furrowed even tighter. He wondered what Zhang Yingxin had told her, that even Zhao Xin thought he was playing hard to get. Had he really become like chewing gum that couldn't be shaken off?
When he had helped Zhang Yingxin get food before, he had seen Zhao Xin a few times. She was the type with a strong sense of justice.
His impression of her was not bad.
In his previous life, after Zhang Yingxin finished military training and quickly dropped out of school to get married, Zhao Xin had even stood up for him.
But right now, he had no interest in being lectured.
"When accusing others, I suggest you first get your facts straight. Zhang Yingxin and I have no relationship whatsoever, and will certainly not have one in the future. Moreover, her grades have always been very stable," Xu Ming replied coldly and unequivocally.
He wasn't wrong in the slightest. Zhang Yingxin had originally paid money to buy her way into Dongping No. 1 High School for her middle school entrance exam.
Even before the division into arts and science streams, she was already at the bottom of the class.
He really didn't know where she got the nerve to blame him. On the contrary, he was the one whose grades had actually fallen.
Zhang Yingxin remained silent, but from her evasive gaze, one could tell she was feeling a bit guilty.
Although Zhao Xin's aggressive demeanor had significantly diminished, she still didn't back down verbally.
"Xinxin, let's go. He's not worth your time." With that, she pulled Zhang Yingxin and started walking out of the cafeteria.
Xu Ming suddenly called out to them: "Wait a moment."
"What, do you regret it now?" Zhao Xin turned her head and asked.
Automatically ignoring the other person, Xu Ming focused his gaze on Zhang Yingxin and decisively switched to debt collection mode.
"Can I have my twenty yuan back now?"
Before Zhang Yingxin could respond, Zhao Xin couldn't hold back first, and pulled out two ten-yuan banknotes from her pocket.
"It's just twenty yuan, isn't it? I'll pay it for Xinxin. Just don't come bothering our class again."
"Rest assured." Xu Ming graciously accepted the money.
He had completely severed ties with Zhang Yingxin and also managed to get his money back. It was truly a case of double happiness.
It perfectly offset the cost of buying textbooks this afternoon.
Putting an end to the matter, Xu Ming naturally didn't say another unnecessary word.
He immediately changed direction and left.
Zhang Yingxin watched Xu Ming leave, still putting on a wronged expression, not believing she had done anything wrong.
"I really don't know what I did wrong to make Xu Ming treat me like this."
"It's not bad to have things this way now. For the rest of the time, just put all your effort into reviewing," Zhao Xin sighed upon hearing this, and then, with a hint of weariness in her spirit, offered a few sincere words of comfort.
…
After dinner, Xu Ming returned to the classroom. After continuing to look through Five Years' Gaokao, Three Years' Mock Exams for Physics for a while, he then personally witnessed Qian Hong's "just-in-time" entry into the classroom.
He plopped down on his stool, gasping for breath.
"Did you not even eat dinner?"
"There wasn't enough time. I'll figure something out during evening self-study later," Qian Hong spread his hands, expressing helplessness.
During Sunday evening self-study sessions, most of the time, no teacher would come.
Xu Ming had thought he could peacefully review Physics, but when the class bell rang, he saw the class teacher Wang Qingtao walk into the classroom, holding a stack of graded test papers.
"Taking advantage of these few periods, let's go over the practice test from the day before yesterday."
He stood on the podium, his gaze like a torch, sweeping across the class below, making the classroom instantly fall silent.
Just by sensing the atmosphere, one could tell that the results of this Math practice test had not satisfied the class teacher.
"Before handing out the papers, allow me to ramble a bit."
"Some very simple questions, some people still get wrong every time I explain them. This makes me, your teacher, doubt my own methods."
"I hope that after today's explanation, everyone can take it as a warning. Otherwise, I'll have to pull out that line: 'You are the worst class I have ever taught.'"
Wang Qingtao's words made the atmosphere cheerful again. Then, amidst everyone's laughter, he handed out the papers, but he called out names and scores for people to collect them.
"Sun Jie, 96 points."
"Yang Huijuan, 101 points."
…
"Li Wenhui, 120 points."
"Chen Lu, 134 points."
"Qian Hong, 83 points."
As each name was called out by Wang Qingtao, everyone walked up to the podium in turn to retrieve their practice test papers.
But when Xu Ming's name was called, he paused for two seconds and didn't announce the score.
"Xu Ming."
Qian Hong, who was happily looking at his own paper, seeing Xu Ming didn't react, quickly nudged him with his arm.
"The class teacher is calling you."
After Xu Ming came back to his senses and stood up, the expression on his face — an unaware person might have thought he was seeing someone off.
"Farewell, brother."
Because he knew best that his good buddy had handed in a blank paper. He was definitely in for a scolding.
Wang Qingtao was very angry at this moment.
That day, seeing Xu Ming flipping through his book during the test, he had thought Xu Ming had forgotten a formula, and although his grades had dropped, it was still within an acceptable range. He had planned to find a time to talk with him properly.
However, when grading the test paper, he found that Xu Ming had only answered the multiple-choice questions.
It could almost be said that he handed in a blank paper.
No exaggeration, in all the time he had been teaching this class, it was his first time encountering something like this—like a maiden's first sedan ride.
However, after Xu Ming came to the podium, Wang Qingtao ultimately suppressed his anger and merely asked in a calm tone.
"Why didn't you write the answers for the later questions?"
Xu Ming: "..."
Reaching out to take the paper, Xu Ming genuinely didn't know how to explain himself at that moment, and helplessly resorted to the "great silence spell."
"Go back for now. Come to my office tomorrow." Wang Qingtao sighed and waved his hand, telling Xu Ming to return to his seat.
Li Wenhui, sitting in the front row, seeing Xu Ming in a predicament, immediately felt a jolt of electricity shoot straight to his head. The whole feeling was two words:
Satisfied.
The anger he had felt yesterday from being rebuffed by Xu Ming seemed to have completely vanished.
All he could think about was, after class, in his capacity as class monitor, he would urge Xu Ming to study diligently.
And to consult him more often with problems.
Xu Ming returned to his seat with the paper, lowered his eyes and examined it carefully. He found that the class teacher had only graded the multiple-choice questions and hadn't written down the score he received. This made a thought suddenly pop into his mind.
"I might as well just redo this paper."
(End of this chapter)