During that time, Lin ChuSui discovered with some disappointment that the enthusiasm of her genius classmate towards her was slowly diminishing.
After school every day, Xiao Yan would leave in a hurry.
From time to time, Lin ChuSui would take a detour and wander to the hot pot shop at the corner of his street.
However, she would only see his sister Xiao Qian busy working there, without any trace of Xiao Yan.
She wondered where he had gone.
Now, Lin ChuSui didn't even have the motivation to train anymore. Lying on the plastic track field, looking at the wispy clouds drifting in the sky, she felt extremely bored and listless.
Could this guy be playing hard to get with her?
What irritated her the most was that this little trick of his... was actually working.
Seeing her dispirited appearance, Lu Chi jogged over and said, "There's less than half a month until the marathon. With your current state, are you planning to take a leisurely stroll for the entire marathon?"
"I don't care, I didn't plan on competing for rankings anyway."
"If you don't get a ranking, you'll have to quit the school team. Do you want your evil stepfather to lead you around by the nose?"
Lin ChuSui lazily stretched and said, "Let whoever wants to lead me, I'm tired, bro."
Lu Chi put his arm around her shoulders and heaved a deep sigh. "Chu Bro, you really are the most depressed one among us."
"Thanks, I'll wait for you at the Liangxiang Excavator School."
"See you later."
...
Lu Chi really thought Lin ChuSui had agreed with him on "see you later" and would not leave. That is, until the monthly exam results came out and gave him a harsh "critical hit" shock.
Originally, Lin ChuSui had always ranked last in the class. But this time, she had tested into the second last place in the class.
The former bottom ranker naturally got replaced, and the position gracefully landed on Lu Chi's head.
Looking at the exam results, Lu Chi felt deeply betrayed.
"We agreed to be bottom rankers together, but you secretly worked hard behind my back. How can we still happily mess around together!"
On Lin ChuSui's exam paper, she had actually scored 58 points in math!
"What kind of crappy score is this!"
"It's 58 points, what more do you want?" Lin ChuSui said.
Lu TianBai turned around and checked Lin ChuSui's test paper. She said, "Girlfriend, you got several multiple choice questions right, and also the last big question worth over 20 points."
As everyone knew, the last question was the most difficult.
"The last question was an original question from the workbook. Coincidentally, someone made me memorize it."
Lin ChuSui's gaze landed squarely on Xiao Yan, who was seriously analyzing the test paper.
Xiao Yan casually said, "You're welcome. Next monthly exam, I'll make sure you pass."
"I don't want to pass!" Lin ChuSui stubbornly said, "I have zero interest in getting a high score."
Xiao Yan glanced at the progress bar in the bottom left corner. "But I want you to pass."
"Genius classmate, please spare me. I just want to quietly be a salted fish."
Lu Chi said indignantly, "Chu Bro, since you don't want to give up your bottom ranker throne, why didn't you just hand in a blank exam paper?"
"I'm not stupid. Making mistakes is an issue of ability; handing in a blank paper is an issue of attitude! There's a fundamental difference. I don't want Old Qin to call Ms. Fang again and tattle about me."
"Then why didn't you write another poem praising the math teacher like last time!"
"Who said I didn't write one." Lin ChuSui flipped to the last page of her math exam paper and flicked it with her fingertips. "This time, Chu Lord wrote an original 14-line Shakespearean sonnet, and also praised the English teacher in the signature."
Lu Chi: "Damn, they didn't deduct points for that?"
"Yeah." Lin ChuSui said disappointedly, "They didn't deduct points, totally illogical."
"Two reasons." Xiao Yan glanced at her test paper and calmly said, "One, the math teacher can't understand it. Two, the math teacher is too lazy to bother with you."
"..."
"Genius classmate, I want you to be my deskmate!" Lu Chi sprawled on the table and pleaded with his palms together, "Please bring me flying, genius classmate. I also want to lounge around and win like Chu Bro does."
Xiao Yan primly pushed his hands away. "Abandon that thought. Lounging around and winning is impossible for salted fish."
"Then how come she can do it!"
"Because she has me."
One corner of Lin ChuSui's mouth twitched. "I thought you had given up on me."
"I've been busy recently, but giving up is impossible."
"Did I owe you money in my previous life?"
Xiao Yan picked up her math test paper and pointed out a few questions she had gotten wrong. He said, "Do these when you get home tonight. I'll come explain them to you tomorrow."
"I won't do them."
"If you don't do them, I will forever withhold my knowledge from the homework copying association in the future."
"..."
After speaking, Xiao Yan picked up his schoolbag and turned to leave the classroom.
Lin ChuSui watched his slender departing figure. Her heart felt pretty good as the corner of her mouth raised slightly.
"Yo yo, your mouth is grinning from ear to ear."
She smacked Lu Chi with her test paper, then carefully circled the questions Xiao Yan had assigned.
...
That night was Lu TianBai's birthday. She happily used the pocket money she had saved up over half a year to invite everyone to sing at Xinting, the highest end entertainment club in the city center.
The décor at Xinting Club was elegant, with small bridges and flowing water, partition screens, and secluded corners. It did not have the gaudy and tacky feel of ordinary KTV clubs. The sound insulation was also very good, so you could barely hear the ghostly wails coming from other rooms in the corridor.
Lin ChuSui gave Lu TianBai a Tiffany bracelet as a present. She sang a few songs with her, then sprawled on the tea table staring at the math questions she had circled, scratching her ears and cheeks.
Lu Chi walked over holding the mic, and elbowed her. "Doing math problems at a KTV, what's wrong with your brain?"
"Mind your business."
"Sing!"
"I'm not singing."
Lu Chi looked at the math test paper she was scribbling on. "Can you understand these problems?"
"Of course I can understand them. This is obviously a parabola, duh."
"Yo, the student who wasted two years is actually still aware this is a parabola."
"Don't look down on me. I'm best at geometry problems. I'll write out the answer immediately."
"..."
Are you sure a parabola is a geometry problem?
After watching beside Lin ChuSui for half a minute, Lu Chi asked, "You've been staring at this problem for at least a minute already. Got it figured out?"
"Stop rushing me."
"You should at least draw a diagram on the draft paper. Just staring at it, how can you solve it?"
Lin ChuSui looked at him deeply. "My brain is undergoing intense data analysis right now."
"Alright, please continue your analysis then, Your Honor."
After "analyzing" for another 20 minutes, Lin ChuSui finally put pen to paper.
Lu Chi hurriedly leaned over to take a look, but only saw that she had written a diss poem directed at Xiao Yan on the test paper—
"Death comes to all men alike, how long can you strut about arrogantly!"
"..."
Lu TianBai sat next to Lin ChuSui and elbowed her. "The genius classmate told you to do the problems. Just do them. My girlfriend sure listens to him a lot huh."
"No way."
"Yes way."
"No way." Lin ChuSui said guiltily. "I just wanted to do problems myself, that's all. Doing problems makes me happy."
Lu TianBai: "Oh, you're at a five-digit per night high-end club, scratching your ears and cheeks doing problems, purely to enjoy the happiness of going bald from tearing your hair out?"
"Cough, yes!"
Lu TianBai's pretty almond eyes curved into a smile. "Then I've noticed, it seems you don't think about Old Lin as much anymore."
"That's nonsense. Old Lin will forever live in my heart, okay? It's just that now..."
Nowadays there's so much homework to do every day, so many fights to pick, and so many... other emotions, filling up her life, which makes it very difficult for her to return to her previous depressed state.
Lin ChuSui went outside to get some fresh air. She had just lit a cigarette when she suddenly remembered the promise she made to Xiao Yan to quit smoking.
A promise is a promise.
She threw the cigarette pack into the trash can, and turned around. Through the glass edge of the door of the next room, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
Xiao Yan.
He was wearing Xinting Club's staff uniform, a white dress shirt and black tailcoat. Tall and slender.
Under the hazy ceiling lights, his side profile was distinct. Fair skin, dark eyes, red lips. In his hand he held a tray with wine glasses.
In this decadent lighting, his handsome features carried a hint of sickness. His clear beautiful eyes seemed as if they could seduce people.
Lin ChuSui felt as if she had entered a dream.
This young man didn't resemble the genius deskmate she saw every day at all. He was like the club's... top grade headliner.
Just as he bent down to pour wine for a customer, a plump man directly poured red wine over his head.
The reason was that his female companion's eyes had been glued on Xiao Yan the entire night.
Jealousy between men was even more direct and crude than between women.
The man yelled in a shrill voice, "I hate little white faces like you the most, oh no, they're called little fresh meat these days."
After speaking, he poured another glass of wine directly onto Xiao Yan's face.
The red liquid trickled down his broad forehead.
Xiao Yan raised his head to look at the man, his jet black eyes swirling with silent fury.
The man could sense the simmering rage of the youth. "What, angry now?"
Xiao Yan took a deep breath, his thin lips slightly upturned, his eyes filling with a trace of laughter to conceal the icy viciousness—
"Wait a moment, I'll get you a new glass."
Seeing this scene, Lin ChuSui felt her blood rushing to her head. She was just about to charge in, when Lu Chi grabbed her collar from behind in time.
"What are you trying to do?"
"My deskmate, my deskmate is being bullied!"
"Today is my sister's birthday. Do you want to kick up a big fuss over this deskmate you've known for less than half a month?"
"But he's being bullied!"
Lu Chi calmly said, "Do you think Xiao Yan is the kind of person who can't defend himself?"
"Just look, he's not even fighting back and swallowing blood!"
"If you make a scene, all the classmates my sister invited will know he works at this kind of club. Where will he put his face?"
Lin ChuSui finally calmed down and worriedly peered at the private room.
Xiao Yan had already retreated to the wall, using napkins to wipe off the wine stains on his face.
He was such a cleanly person.
"It's his own choice to work here. If you barge in and kick up a fuss, he might lose this job and even be fined.
Lin ChuSui also knew this was a place where consumption started at five digits a night. As a service staff, enduring anything was a must.
She could not help him on the surface while actually harming him.
Lin ChuSui suppressed her anger and turned around to return to her private room.
Seeing Lin ChuSui come back fuming, Lu TianBai's eyes suddenly lit up and she excitedly asked, "Did Xu JiaNing come?!"
"A pretty boy like him would never sacrifice his precious study and sleep time to come to a place like this," Lu Chi explained. "It's your bestie, the one who rushes to champion justice with her knife already drawn, and now the knife tip is poking her own heart."
"I see."
After calming down for a moment and seeing Lu TianBai's disappointed expression, Lin ChuSui felt even more annoyed. She simply took her phone and went outside, calling Xu JiaNing—
"Fake foreigner...brother."
"Rare to get a call from you on your own initiative."
"I sent you a location pin, come over for a bit."
"Don't want to. I'm taking a bath," Xu JiaNing drew out his words lazily.
"Just come sit for a while, and I'll go back home with you. You can tell your parents you brought me back from the KTV."
Xu JiaNing thought for a moment and said, "You have to apologize to my dad."
"Don't get greedy."
"Just a kid apologizing, it's not like you're losing meat. At worst you can passionately insult him ten thousand times in the group chat."
"Apologizing is fine too." Lin ChuSui continued negotiating, "Then when you come, buy a birthday cake too. The card should say: To the most beautiful darling—Lu TianBai, happy 18th birthday, signed: Xu JiaNing."
"At this time, where am I going to buy a birthday cake?"
"Not my problem."
After saying this, Lin ChuSui hung up the phone and turned around to see the man who had just bullied Xiao Yan going into the bathroom.
She followed him in.
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