Chapter 39: The Aloof God Cannot Be Approached (14)
[Huo Xian…] Huo Yuan hesitated.
Huo Xian asked: [What’s wrong?]
Huo Yuan organized his thoughts before saying: [Your attitude towards He Wenqu today seems to have really angered You Zi’an, and his protection of He Wenqu seems to have moved He Wenqu as well.]
[Mm, and then?] Huo Xian continued to ask.
[…They might get together early.] Huo Yuan considered it a tactful way to put it.
Hearing this, Huo Xian curled his lips and asked him: [Does it matter to me if they get together?]
Huo Yuan thought for a moment: [It doesn’t seem to.] After a pause, he said with difficulty: [Huo Xian, do you really not like He Wenqu?]
[I don’t like him.] Huo Xian answered without hesitation.
To be honest, He Wenqu’s personality wasn’t actually unpleasant. He was lively, cheerful, had high emotional intelligence, and was righteous. As a friend, he’d be a good one. Emotionally, he and You Zi’an grew up together, so their feelings were naturally deep, and it was reasonable for their childhood friendship to develop into a romantic relationship. If he hadn’t provoked another person, Huo Xian might have been able to get along with him peacefully.
In the original timeline, he stubbornly clung to the original owner, which Huo Xian could ignore. After all, being thick-skinned when pursuing someone you admire is understandable. But to pull away at the last moment and dismiss the original owner with a “figure out your heart,” was excessive.
[Then what kind of partner do you want in the future?] Huo Yuan was a little worried, but then his fighting spirit rose: [I will help you keep an eye out for excellent males… By the way, do you like boys like Hua Jin? His luck is also very high, you know.]
Huo Xian: [……] Huo Yuan, do you know you sound like a pimp right now?
Huo Yuan didn’t get a response: [Huo Xian?]
Huo Xian let out a breath and said helplessly: [Huo Yuan, I’m only 16; I’m not dating.]
Huo Yuan said honestly: [But your soul is already 28.]
Huo Xian: [……]
After a long time, Huo Xian slowly said: [Huo Yuan, don’t worry about my lifelong affairs. When I meet someone I like, I’ll tell you.]
[…Okay.]
=v=
As Huo Yuan had guessed, when He Wenqu returned to school on Monday, he finally stopped using that unpleasant long gaze to look at him. Although he would still glance at him occasionally, according to Huo Yuan’s description, it was “complex.”
Huo Xian ignored him.
He Wenqu didn’t want to pay attention to Huo Xian either, but Huo Xian was the first person he had ever had a crush on. He could be considered his white moonlight, but Huo Xian’s attitude towards him was truly hurtful. At his birthday party, You Zi’an’s unique care for him and his words to Huo Xian made him realize something different. Although You Zi’an’s explanation was that he couldn’t stand Huo Xian’s attitude and was helping him out, he could sense whether it was purely helping him out.
So He Wenqu was very confused, and this confusion deepened even further when the teachers handed out the mid-term exam papers.
On Monday, except for biology, eight other subjects’ exam papers were distributed. Except for Chinese and English where he lost a few points, the rest were perfect scores. Yes, perfect scores, even politics and history, not a single point deducted!
When the teachers entered the class on Monday morning to distribute the papers and announce Huo Xian’s scores, everyone in Class 9 was incredibly shocked. By the end of the day, the students were numb, looking at Huo Xian like a monster.
Excluding biology, the total score for the other eight subjects was 950. Getting 760 was already excellent, but what did 943 mean?
Although Huo Xian’s status as the top scorer in the junior high school entrance examination was no longer a secret, many top scorers fell from grace after entering high school. Besides, even if Huo Xian was the top scorer, his score wasn’t that exaggerated, right?
Huo Xian himself remained unfazed, not proud at all, but rather a little regretful that his Chinese composition had lost five points.
[I looked at Li Libai’s standard answers. Except for the composition, your answers to every question matched the standard answers. Your composition was so good, yet he still deducted five points; he definitely did it on purpose.] Huo Yuan was a little unhappy.
Huo Xian naturally knew what Huo Yuan knew. He smiled: [He couldn’t find any other mistakes.]
[Petty.] Huo Yuan muttered.
Huo Xian comforted him softly: [Let him be petty; the college entrance examination papers aren’t graded by him.]
…
Li Libai was indeed petty, and the five points deducted from Huo Xian’s composition were indeed due to his pettiness. But when he discovered that Huo Xian’s scores in all subjects were ridiculously high, he couldn’t help but regret it. An excellent student could prove his ability to manage the class, and it would also be very face-saving in front of the school leaders.
On the first day the scores were released, most students didn’t know their total scores and rankings yet, but Li Libai had already received the score sheets for Class 9 and the entire first grade. Huo Xian ranked first, his total score of 1043, nearly 180 points ahead of the second place, made even him, who considered himself knowledgeable, feel his heart tremble.
If… if he had deducted two fewer points from Huo Xian’s composition, Huo Xian’s score could have been two points higher!
Thanks to Huo Xian’s ridiculously high score, Li Libai decided to “make peace” with Huo Xian. Even if Huo Xian’s attitude wasn’t good, so what? A student who brought him face was a good student; he could hold him in the palm of his hand!
After adjusting his mentality, he decided to treat Huo Xian like a god!
“Achoo—” Huo Xian couldn’t help but sneeze.
Mei Heng happened to pass by and heard him sneeze, sarcastically saying, “Oh, even the top student sneezes. How rare.”
Before Huo Xian could speak, Huo Yuan jumped out to sneer: [Dogs can’t spit out ivory.]
Huo Xian almost couldn’t hold back his laughter, but he managed to. However, because he was holding it in too tightly, his expression looked unusually cold: “Top students can also fight, isn’t that even rarer?”
As soon as he said this, Mei Heng couldn’t help but remember the time he was unilaterally beaten up in the alley after the “fight” was arranged. His face turned green and white, a truly spectacular sight.
Seeing that Mei Heng was about to fight again at the slightest disagreement, He Wenqu hesitated for only a moment before choosing to ignore it. He had decided not to interfere in Huo Xian’s affairs anymore, and he had to learn to restrain himself. Besides, he was now friends with Mei Heng, and Mei Heng wasn’t the unreasonable violent maniac he had originally imagined.
“Class monitor, Huo Xian…” The sports committee member interrupted the two, or rather, Mei Heng’s one-sided confrontation.
Huo Xian looked at the sports committee member and asked calmly, “What’s wrong?”
“Um…” The sports committee member was a little afraid of Mei Heng. Only after calling out to Huo Xian did he realize that he had gotten involved in the unfriendly “confrontation” between Huo Xian and Mei Heng. It was too late to escape, so he had to say, “It’s like this, the basketball game is coming soon, every class has to participate. Not many people in our class are good at basketball. Currently, including me, only four people have signed up, so…”
He couldn’t continue. Mei Heng’s gaze was almost burning through him, because Mei Heng was on the basketball game registration list.
The “grudge” between Mei Heng and Huo Xian was already known throughout the school. He must have been crazy to target Huo Xian. But Huo Xian’s height was there, he could win first place in the 1500 meters, his physique must be good, and if he could also play basketball, he would be a great asset.
“Sign up.” Huo Xian said calmly as the sports committee member was struggling.
“Huh???” The sports committee member thought he had misheard.
“Aren’t you short of people?” Huo Xian asked coldly, seeing his stunned expression.
The sports committee member glanced at Mei Heng, forced a smile, and replied in a wavering voice, “Yeah, short of people.”
[Ding dong.] The adorable Huo Yuan went online, [The sports committee member’s expression is so peaceful.]
Huo Xian: [……]
Although, Huo Yuan’s description wasn’t wrong at all. The sports committee member did look like he was about to ascend to heaven. If he had the ability to eavesdrop on people’s thoughts, he might even hear the sports committee member’s thoughts – Tired, stressed, let’s be destroyed.
There was a reason for the sports committee member’s peaceful expression. He had also been to He Wenqu’s birthday party a few days ago and naturally saw the unpleasantness between Huo Xian and He Wenqu. And besides Mei Heng, He Wenqu was also on their class’s basketball game registration list. Now that Huo Xian was joining, he was really worried that the three of them would have a conflict at any moment.
In fact, He Wenqu’s first reaction when he heard that Huo Xian was going to sign up for the basketball game was to withdraw. He didn’t want to have any more contact with Huo Xian, and seeing Huo Xian always reminded him of Huo Xian’s words, “Don’t you know why I hate you?”, making him feel ashamed.
But on second thought, he and Huo Xian were now in the same class, and they couldn’t avoid seeing each other. He couldn’t keep avoiding him. What if they did have contact? Wouldn’t it prove that he had no feelings for Huo Xian if he didn’t fall in love again?
Although he comforted himself in this way, a small thought couldn’t help but pop up deep in his heart: Did Huo Xian agree to play in the basketball game because he remembered that he had once invited him to play basketball together? Maybe Huo Xian didn’t hate him that much?
If Huo Xian knew what he was thinking, he would definitely give him three words: You’re overthinking.
…
[Huo Yuan.] Before the first game started, Huo Xian suddenly said.
Huo Yuan immediately went online: [I’m here, Huo Xian, what are your orders? Do you want me to calculate the angle and force of your shots? Do you need to monitor Mei Heng to prevent him from doing anything underhanded?]
Huo Xian almost forgot what he wanted to say. He smiled and said warmly: [Give me some encouragement.]
[Ah?]
[I’m about to go on the court. Aren’t you going to cheer me on and encourage me?] Huo Xian called him out for no other reason than to talk to him.
[Huo Xian, go for it!] Huo Yuan was naturally not stingy with his encouragement. After thinking for a while, he added a sentence: [Mwah, love you.]
Huo Xian paused, using the gesture of supporting his forehead to hide the unconsciously upturned corners of his mouth, helplessly asking: [Where did you learn that?]
[From TV dramas! The male protagonist plays basketball, and the cheerleaders would shout like that.] Huo Yuan honestly replied, [And also heart signs. Should I use 100 points to show you?]
Thinking of Huo Yuan’s extremely handsome face, and then imagining him making a heart sign, Huo Xian felt his blood heat up.
But!
Huo Yuan’s points should not be wasted. What if they were short of 100 points at the time of settlement?
Huo Yuan felt regret at being rejected, but fortunately, Huo Xian said, [When I save enough points for you, you can make the heart sign for real.] He wanted to see a “real person” more than a vague shadow.
[Okay!] Huo Yuan immediately agreed.
Perhaps thanks to Huo Yuan’s encouragement, Huo Xian performed exceptionally well on the court, dribbling past opponents, three-pointers from outside the line, and slam dunks. Not only the girls who came for him, but even his teammates were stunned by his skills.
Class 9 won the first game by a large margin of more than thirty points. Compared to the high-fives and shoulder bumps of the other team members after the victory, Huo Xian was calmly out of sync with the four of them. Even in celebration, he only lightly high-fived the sports committee member, perfunctorily and briefly.
The person with the most complex feelings was undoubtedly He Wenqu. He had already decided to minimize this person’s presence in his life, but Huo Xian was like a shining star, his shining points impossible to ignore.
Another person with complex feelings was Mei Heng. Unlike He Wenqu’s thoughts, he was filled with hatred. He was the first person to make him lose face. Yet, his family repeatedly told him not to cause trouble again, otherwise, it wouldn’t be as simple as just scolding him.
But, he still couldn’t swallow his anger.
He was the one who always made others bow their heads. The person who could make him bow his head… hadn’t been born yet!
[Ding dong.] Huo Yuan went online. Before congratulating him, he said: [Huo Xian, Mei Heng is looking at you with malicious intent, be careful!]
Author’s Note: Yuan Yuan: Mwah, pen core.
=v=
“Gregorio” watering nutrient solution +20, “Siwu” watering nutrient solution +1, “Xingyin” watering nutrient solution +8, mwah, love you =3=