Chapter 43
The first period was the math exam. Chi Aibei waited until the very last second to hand in his paper.
Lin Xiu and Jiang Yu were waiting for him outside the classroom. As Chi Aibei’s target, Lin Yang was naturally curious about how he did.
Seeing him come out, Jiang Yu asked, “How did you do?”
Chi Aibei: “Just okay.”
Lin Yang: “What does ‘just okay’ mean?”
Lin Xiu asked, “Any trouble passing?”
Chi Aibei wagged his index finger, then made an “eight” gesture with his hand.
Jiang Yu stared at his fingers and exclaimed, “Eight points? Chi Aibei, do you have some obsession with the number eight? You get eight points every time?”
Chi Aibei glared at him. “You’re the one getting eight points. I meant eighty.”
Lin Yang snorted with laughter. “Eighty? You might as well say you got eight; at least that’s more believable.”
Jiang Yu looked at Chi Aibei. He actually hoped he could score eighty, but he felt that expecting eighty was a bit too much for him.
Lin Xiu didn’t say whether he believed him or not. “Next is Chinese. Any problems?”
Chi Aibei pouted. “I probably can’t get full marks.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Lin Yang: “…”
Do you hear yourself?
Qin Wanpeng was taking his exam in Class 7. He handed in his paper early and came to Class 1 to wait for He Chenjiang. He Chenjiang also finished early. The two went to buy water, and upon returning, they saw Chi Aibei standing at the classroom door with Lin Xiu and the others.
After yesterday’s game, Qin Wanpeng’s feelings were a bit complicated upon seeing Chi Aibei again. “I didn’t expect the little fool to fit in so well in Class 1.”
He saw that He Chenjiang remained silent, his gaze fixed on the chatting and laughing Chi Aibei.
Qin Wanpeng said, “By the way, Wang Du is hospitalized.”
He Chenjiang frowned slightly.
Qin Wanpeng: “Isn’t this Lin Xiu supposed to be a top student? I’ve never seen him play before. How did he suddenly join the basketball team and play so ruthlessly?”
Lin Xiu was indeed different from what they imagined, but what He Chenjiang was curious about was why someone like him would listen to Chi Aibei’s every word.
Seeing He Chenjiang remain silent, Qin Wanpeng knew he was still brooding over yesterday’s events. He comforted him, “Weren’t you always annoyed by him clinging to you before? Isn’t it better this way?”
Better? A person pretending to be crazy and foolish just to make you annoyed with him—no matter how He Chenjiang thought about it, he felt like he was the one being played.
The second period was Chinese, and Chi Aibei was again the last to hand in his paper.
This level of seriousness simply flattered the Chinese teacher. He went back to the office specifically to praise him to Chen Jiang.
Chen Jiang was also quite happy. Regardless of Chi Aibei’s score, just the fact that he could sit until the end and behave was worth praising. “I didn’t expect him to sit through it either. I just flipped through his paper, and honestly, he answered pretty well.”
The Chinese teacher said, “I had a headache for a few days when he first transferred here, but later I realized he wasn’t that disobedient. He listens honestly in class and hands in his homework on time.”
Zhou Xia listened from the side, suspecting that the Chi Aibei they were talking about and the one she taught were two different people. When had that kid ever listened obediently in class? If he wasn’t doing math problems, he was reading books for other subjects; she had never even seen him holding an English book!
Zhou Xia walked into Class 1 with papers in hand, full of anticipation. After the papers were distributed, Zhou Xia focused on observing Chi Aibei. She saw him roughly scan the front and back, then bury his head and start writing. His writing speed was insanely fast! Even the poor students in Class 7 who guessed “B” for everything weren’t as fast as him.
Halfway through the exam, Chi Aibei suddenly stood up.
Zhou Xia: “What are you doing?”
Chi Aibei: “I’m done.”
…Zhou Xia almost suffered internal injuries from holding back her anger.
You can sit through every other subject until the end, but you hand in English early? What, does the English paper prick your butt?
Zhou Xia was so angry her brain hurt. “Sit down. You can only hand it in after fifteen minutes.”
Zhou Xia thought that making him sit down would lead him to check his work again, but he just sat there, staring blankly. Zhou Xia was so angry she nearly spontaneously combusted. Everyone turned to look back, admiring Chi Aibei. Of all the teachers in Class 1, he had to provoke the one with the worst temper. He really had a death wish.
Lin Xiu glanced at Chi Aibei. Seeing him staring blankly at the playground, he couldn’t help but call out to him, “Check your work.”
Chi Aibei picked up the paper, holding it up like a newspaper, and perfunctorily scanned it once. As soon as the fifteen minutes were up, he handed it in and left.
No one had ever dared to hand in a paper early when Zhou Xia was proctoring; Chi Aibei was the first. Watching Chi Aibei run off, Zhou Xia withdrew her furious gaze and looked at the single paper in her hand. Her face full of anger turned into surprise within a few short seconds, followed by shock and delight.
The girl sitting in the first row was confused. What did Ms. Zhou see?
Chi Aibei went to the restroom after handing in his paper. He still hadn’t returned even after the bell rang and Lin Xiu and Jiang Yu had finished their exams and come out.
Jiang Yu was just about to suggest looking for him, but before he could speak, he saw Chi Aibei running up from downstairs.
Lin Xiu: “Where did you go?”
Chi Aibei shook his head. “Nowhere.”
Lin Xiu felt he wasn’t telling the truth. This kid managed his expressions very well when lying, but precisely because he managed them too well—and Lin Xiu had the “privilege” of experiencing it a few times—he knew at a glance that Chi Aibei was plotting something.
Jiang Yu didn’t notice. Still shaken, he said, “You’re really something. You sat through every other subject until the end, but handed in Zhou Xia’s English exam early. Didn’t you see how dark her face got?”
Chi Aibei asked curiously, “If I finished writing, why would I sit there instead of handing it in?”
Jiang Yu: “You just wrote nonsense, right? Writing that fast.”
Lin Xiu also suspected Chi Aibei had written nonsense. Mostly because he had never seen him study English, and coupled with how he wrote as if possessed by a god just now, it really didn’t look like he was thinking.
The three of them ate lunch in the cafeteria. Even though Jiang Yu was sitting right across from him, Chi Aibei sent him a text message.
Chi Aibei: 【I’m going out to meet your idiot brother in a bit. Cover for me, don’t let Brother Lin Xiu know.】
Jiang Yu was startled and abruptly looked at Chi Aibei—Are you crazy?
Lin Xiu noticed Jiang Yu’s unusual reaction. He glanced at Chi Aibei. “What’s wrong?”
Chi Aibei smiled and shook his head. “Nothing.”
Lin Xiu looked at him skeptically for a moment. Thinking that there were still exams in the afternoon and he couldn’t cause much trouble, he let it go.
Seeing Lin Xiu turn back to eat, Chi Aibei signaled frantically to Jiang Yu with his eyes, telling him not to react so strongly.
He continued texting: 【Don’t worry, I’m not going alone. I got guys from the basketball team. I wanted to ask you, but your position is awkward. You better stay and help me handle Gege. If he asks, just say I went to take a dump.】
Jiang Yu had never heard such a lame excuse: 【How long do you plan to be in there?】
Chi Aibei: 【Don’t know, depends on the volume.】
Jiang Yu: 【…】
