Chapter 11
Chi Aibei’s dorm room was only occupied by him. Perhaps to prevent him from climbing around and falling, the top bunk had been removed, leaving only the frame and a bottom bunk.
The room wasn’t as messy as Lin Xiu imagined; things were neatly arranged. However, Lin Xiu didn’t know that this was the result of Chi Aibei cleaning for two days. As someone with mild OCD, Chi Aibei had almost fainted from the dirt when he entered the room the day before yesterday.
Lin Xiu safely delivered Chi Aibei to his dorm, completing his task for the day. “I’m leaving, don’t wander around.”
Chi Aibei wanted to invite him in to sit, but when he heard Lin Xiu was leaving, he quickly chased after him and asked, “Brother, where are you going? Can I go with you?”
Lin Xiu: “No.”
Chi Aibei: “Then when will you tutor me?”
Lin Xiu hadn’t planned on tutoring him. Seeing Chi Aibei persist, he perfunctorily said, “Weekend.”
Weekend?
That’s still several days away!
Chi Aibei really wanted a tutor. He was only a high school freshman, but had suddenly jumped a year ahead to sophomore level. His classes felt like listening to gibberish; he didn’t know where to even begin.
Lin Xiu took a phone call, seemingly from someone looking for him.
After Lin Xiu left, Chi Aibei rummaged through his bag for his homework, pulling out several crumpled test papers. Seeing the scores, his eyes went black—no wonder Lin Xiu didn’t want to tutor him. With these grades, even if Lin Xiu was willing, he wouldn’t be able to help; there was no point!
…
At the entrance to Class 1’s classroom, Chi Aibei peeked inside… As expected of a top class, except for the two empty seats in the back row behind Jiang Yu, every other seat was occupied, just like during the day!
The girl sitting at the entrance was the first to notice Chi Aibei. Chi Aibei waved to her and softly asked, “Hello, classmate, has evening self-study started?”
The girl looked at him blankly and nodded. “Yes.”
Chi Aibei slunk inside. His appearance quickly attracted attention.
Lin Yang saw him sneak in and couldn’t help but exclaim, “What the heck, how did he get in here?”
Jiang Yu had his earphones in. Hearing Lin Yang’s shout, he looked up, seeing Chi Aibei scurrying towards him. He abruptly pulled out one earphone. “What are you doing here?”
Chi Aibei sat down behind Jiang Yu, pulling out books from his bag. “I’m here for evening self-study.”
Jiang Yu frowned. “What self-study? Go back, don’t cause trouble!”
Chi Aibei ignored him, moving to Lin Xiu’s seat and pointing to the seat next to him. “Class monitor, come here for a second, I have something good to show you.”
Jiang Yu wasn’t interested in his “good thing,” but Lin Yang was curious about what the seemingly intellectually challenged student had. He turned around and asked, “What good thing?”
Chi Aibei said mysteriously, “I can’t show you, only the class monitor.”
Lin Yang: “Don’t be so stingy, let me see.”
Chi Aibei shook his head, refusing to show it.
The more he did this, the more curious Lin Yang became. He looked at Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu glared at him. “Are you bored?” Without waiting for Lin Yang to turn back, Jiang Yu stood up and went to the back row.
Lin Yang immediately turned around, seeing Chi Aibei rummaging through his bag before pulling out a crumpled test paper. He flattened the paper, revealing a large, red-penned “8” – eight points!
Lin Yang: “…”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Lin Yang was shocked. He’d never seen a single-digit score before!
This was simply unbelievable; was this written with their feet?
Jiang Yu, who had also never seen such a low score, twitched his eye. He looked at Chi Aibei. “You call this a good thing?”
Chi Aibei blinked innocently. “Isn’t this a good thing for you?”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Why would an eight-point test paper be a good thing for me?
Chi Aibei was referring to the test paper itself, not the answers. For someone who valued grades above all else, the test paper itself would be considered a prized possession.
Chi Aibei took out the pen Lin Xiu had left him and pointed to the wrong questions. “Class monitor, can you explain this problem to me?”
Chi Aibei couldn’t wait until the weekend for Lin Xiu to tutor him. He had fallen too far behind and needed to catch up as much as possible. Since Lin Xiu couldn’t tutor him immediately, he opted for the next best thing: getting tutored by the number two student in their grade.
Jiang Yu looked at the test paper, then at Chi Aibei… Are you kidding me? Tutoring the seemingly intellectually challenged student? Does he look like he has that much free time?
Jiang Yu was about to leave when Chi Aibei sighed slowly. “If you don’t explain it to me, I won’t be able to do it. If I can’t do it, I’ll still get the lowest score next time. Eight points, ugh, I wonder how much my score will lower the class average.”
This wasn’t just alarming to Jiang Yu; even Lin Yang was disturbed. Eight points, how much would everyone else have to score to make up for that?
Lin Yang turned to look at Chi Aibei, thinking that the seemingly intellectually challenged student wasn’t that stupid after all; he actually knew what a class average was.
Jiang Yu furrowed his brow. After a while, he still couldn’t get over the score. He asked Chi Aibei, “Why don’t you ask Lin Xiu to teach you? He’s number one.”
Chi Aibei said, “I know Lin Xiu-gege is amazing, but he’s not here right now. Although you’re the perennial number two, I believe you’re capable too.”
“…” Jiang Yu’s temples throbbed.
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
Lin Yang didn’t dare to breathe, secretly glancing at Jiang Yu… He had just dodged a huge bullet! This seemingly intellectually challenged student was too bold. Everyone knew “number two” was Jiang Yu’s sore point, and he actually dared to call him perennial number two?
Lin Yang not only admired Chi Aibei’s boldness, but this was something only a seemingly intellectually challenged student would dare to say. Anyone with a normal brain wouldn’t dare to provoke Jiang Yu.
To avoid being implicated, Lin Yang silently turned back, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.
Seeing Jiang Yu’s face as black as the bottom of a shoe, Chi Aibei felt satisfied. While reading novels, he’d always wanted to make him suffer. Finally, he had his chance.
Chi Aibei pretended not to notice his anger. “Class monitor, are you unable to do it?”
Jiang Yu: “?”
Chi Aibei wore an expression of “I overestimated you,” sadly saying, “Forget it, I’ll just call Lin Xiu-gege. Don’t waste my time.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Jiang Yu snatched Chi Aibei’s phone, picked up the pen on the desk, and circled the problem Chi Aibei had pointed to. He said through gritted teeth, “This one? I’ll explain it to you! If I don’t explain it to your satisfaction tonight, I’ll change my last name!”
…
The next day, Lin Xiu arrived to see Jiang Yu leaning over, his pen pointing at various places on Chi Aibei’s notebook. “Here and here are wrong. Remember to apply the correct formula here.”
Jiang Yu hated wasting time without results. However, last night he had unknowingly tutored the seemingly intellectually challenged student for an entire test paper. This morning, Chi Aibei came to him with his homework, and he didn’t show any impatience.
Chi Aibei picked up a textbook. “Which page?”
Jiang Yu looked at him. “Which page?”
Chi Aibei said, “The formula you mentioned.”
Jiang Yu opened his mouth, then hesitated.
Chi Aibei raised his head in confusion. “Don’t you remember?”
Jiang Yu said helplessly, “That’s from the second semester of freshman year.”
Chi Aibei, who had only been in high school for less than two months: “…”
Chi Aibei closed the book and grinned at Jiang Yu. “Class monitor, why don’t you help me with…”
Jiang Yu’s eyelids twitched, immediately interrupting him. “Don’t even think about it!”
If Lin Xiu hadn’t walked over, Chi Aibei would have certainly persisted. He turned to Lin Xiu, his eyes curving into a smile like an early-morning cat. “Brother, you’re here.”
It was a smile, but for some reason, Jiang Yu felt that Chi Aibei’s smile for Lin Xiu was much more genuine than for him. He couldn’t pinpoint the difference, but he felt that his smile towards him was particularly insincere.
Lin Xiu looked at Jiang Yu. “What are you two doing?”
Chi Aibei said, “Class monitor is helping me with my problems.”
Chi Aibei only badmouthed Jiang Yu behind his back. In front of Lin Xiu, he tried his best to speak well of Jiang Yu. After all, he had to maintain their friendship to prevent Jiang Yu’s future craziness from affecting Lin Xiu.
Lin Xiu: “Tutoring?”
If Jiang Yu’s pen hadn’t been on Chi Aibei’s test paper, Lin Xiu would have suspected the seemingly intellectually challenged student was making things up again.
Jiang Yu hated tutoring others. He was impatient and had a bad temper. If someone didn’t understand after one explanation, he would send them away, problem and all. Even if the students in the class had questions, they would rather wait for Lin Xiu the next day than ask Jiang Yu, who stayed in the classroom all night. So far, only Lin Yang had asked Jiang Yu questions the most, and also received the most “stupid” insults!
Jiang Yu felt uncomfortable under Lin Xiu’s gaze and turned away, muttering, “Let your deskmate teach you.”
Lin Xiu glanced at the test paper on Chi Aibei’s desk. It was yesterday’s homework, now filled with answers. As for whether they were correct…
Chi Aibei: “Brother, do you still have the freshman year textbooks?”
Lin Xiu: “Why do you need the freshman year textbooks?”
Chi Aibei sighed. “My foundation is a little weak. I want to review the freshman year content.”
Lin Xiu thought, your weak foundation didn’t start in high school, did it? Even if you review, shouldn’t you start from middle or even elementary school?
“I’m not sure. I’ll look for them when I get home.” Lin Xiu couldn’t remember if he still had the freshman year books. He looked at Jiang Yu, still curious. “How did you convince him to tutor you?”
Lin Yang desperately restrained himself from jumping in—I, I, I know! It all started with the seemingly intellectually challenged student’s boldness! He not only used phrases like “perennial number two” to provoke Jiang Yu but also used reverse psychology to get Jiang Yu to tutor him all night!
Chi Aibei always gave a carrot and a stick. Last night, he deliberately insulted Jiang Yu. Now, he lavishly praised him in a voice loud enough for Jiang Yu to hear. “Class monitor is so nice! He saw that I had poor grades and volunteered to help me with my problems. Not only is his explanation clear, but he’s also incredibly patient. I understand the problems after just one explanation. He’s truly a top student, so amazing! I wish I were as amazing as him!”
Jiang Yu was flattered, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, his brow unconsciously smoothing… The seemingly intellectually challenged student had some conscience, it was worth tutoring him all night.
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei’s exaggerated expression: “…”
Enough already, such blatant flattery, who would believe it?