During the evening self-study session, both the campus and the office were quiet.
Although the homeroom teacher of Class 10 spoke in a casual tone, he didn’t deliberately lower his voice. Most of the people in the office heard him clearly, and some had already looked up, curiosity mixed with a bit of amusement in their expressions.
The rumor about Zhai Chi being personally welcomed by the principal on the first day of school was well-known not only among students but also among the teachers.
Given the grand entrance he had made, everyone assumed that Zhai Chi must be a troublemaker. However, after being assigned to Class 10 for a week, he had been unexpectedly well-behaved.
So now, the teachers in the office were curious—why had this transfer student been called in?
The atmosphere was a bit delicate.
Everyone knew that the Science Class 1 of Grade 11 was one of the elite classes at No.1 High School, specially set up for top-performing students. The class had only thirty students, all of whom were academically outstanding.
On the other hand, Class 10 was among the lower-performing regular classes. Asking a student from Class 10 if they wanted to transfer to an elite class was no different from asking a toad if it wanted to eat a swan.
Of course, Zhai Chi understood that Zhou Ya was deliberately mocking him with this question. He paused for a moment before responding seriously, “Teacher, is there a specific requirement for transferring classes?”
Zhou Ya hadn’t expected him to actually answer and was momentarily stunned. “What? You really want to join Class 1?”
Zhai Chi replied, “Can’t I want to?”
His expression was natural and innocent.
Zhou Ya was at a loss for words.
After a long silence, he finally adjusted his emotions and said, “Of course, you can go to Class 1. Since the class split in Grade 11, every exam in Class 1 has had an average total score of at least 650. As long as you score above their average in the next exam, you can transfer.”
“When is the next exam?”
Zhai Chi asked without hesitation.
Zhou Ya: “…”
Is this guy taking it seriously?
Zhou Ya found this ridiculous.
He knew that Zhai Chi was a student personally looked after by the principal. That was precisely why he dared to call him to the office.
Being welcomed by the principal himself meant that Zhai Chi had entered No.1 High School through connections—strong ones, at that.
But even with strong connections, he hadn’t been placed directly into the best elite class. That could only mean one of two things: either his grades were truly terrible, or his connections weren’t strong enough to make the school break the rules.
Either way, Zhai Chi had broken school regulations by leaving the classroom during evening self-study. As his homeroom teacher, Zhou Ya had every right to call him in for a lecture. Even the principal couldn’t object to that.
But somehow, his lecture had gone completely off track.
At that moment, another teacher chimed in, “Old Zhou, your student has ambition! We have a monthly exam in two days. If he wants to transfer, he’ll have to work hard.”
Zhai Chi turned toward the voice. It was a female teacher with a high ponytail.
Her name was Tian Tian, the homeroom teacher of Class 11.
Tian Tian and Zhou Ya had never gotten along.
She knew that Zhou Ya was an ambitious teacher who always wanted to prove himself.
Since he wasn’t particularly skilled at improving his class’s academic performance, he tried a different approach—targeting students with influential backgrounds.
At No.1 High School, students with connections were often treated with leniency by teachers. But Zhou Ya enjoyed picking on them. Whenever he got the chance to scold or lecture these students—the ones other teachers wouldn’t dare to criticize—it gave him a sense of moral superiority.
But this time, no one was buying it.
Seeing that Zhou Ya didn’t respond, Zhai Chi turned to Tian Tian and asked, “Can results from a regular monthly exam be used as a basis for transferring?”
Tian Tian nodded. “Of course. At No.1 High School, our monthly exams follow the same standards as midterms and finals.”
Zhai Chi’s eyes lit up. “I see! Then I’ll work hard for the exam. Thank you, Teacher Tian.”
Tian Tian was slightly surprised before she chuckled.
This handsome kid even remembered her last name!
Their back-and-forth made it seem like she was the one who had called the student in for a talk.
Zhou Ya’s face darkened.
And to make things worse, Zhai Chi turned back to him with a serious expression and asked, “Teacher Zhou, do you have anything else?”
Zhou Ya: “…”
What else could he say?
He had called Zhai Chi here to scold him for skipping self-study and to lecture him on the importance of studying. But now, the student had taken the initiative to “realize his mistakes” before he could even start his lecture.
Zhou Ya felt like something was stuck in his throat. He was pissed.
He sighed in defeat. “Nothing. Go back now. And don’t wander around during self-study. Students should behave like students.”
Zhai Chi turned and left immediately.
He even looked like he was eager to go study.
A transfer student returning from abroad, someone whose education hadn’t aligned with the domestic curriculum, would be lucky to keep up with the school’s lessons—yet he dared to dream of using the monthly exam as a stepping stone to the elite class?
Zhou Ya scoffed internally.
After the exam, Zhai Chi’s true academic level would be exposed, and then he would have plenty of opportunities to lecture him!
What Zhou Ya didn’t know was that Zhai Chi hadn’t been placed in Class 1 from the beginning simply because he had chickened out.
He had assumed that Yu Jiu wouldn’t want to see him, so he had let the principal assign him to any random class.
And the reason he was placed in Class 10 was that it had the fewest students among the regular classes—adding one more desk wouldn’t overcrowd the room.
Originally, he had planned to talk to Yu Jiu first before asking the principal to transfer him to Class 1. But transferring this way felt a little underhanded.
Now, an opportunity had presented itself.
If he could get into Class 1 through his own abilities, wouldn’t that be even better?
This way, he could stay close and figure out where all of Yu Jiu’s mysterious injuries were coming from.
Feeling pleased, Zhai Chi walked into the classroom with a smile, which made Xu Shi—who had been expecting him to return with a gloomy face—almost question reality.
How did this guy walk out of the office like nothing had happened?
…
The bell rang for the end of the first evening self-study session, and the top students in Class 1 finally started to move around a little.
Yu Jiu, however, remained seated, but he felt extremely uneasy.
Even without turning around, he knew that multiple people had their eyes on him. Even if they weren’t staring at him directly, they were eavesdropping.
Especially the person behind him—Yu San.
Because his desk was already stuffed full of books, the medicine that Zhai Chi had bought him earlier was still sitting on top.
The plastic bag was transparent, making the contents completely visible.
“Why did he buy you medicine?”
A voice came from beside him.
Yu Jiu was stunned and turned his head in surprise.
The one who had spoken wasn’t Yu San—it was his desk partner, Zhang Yangfei.
The class monitor was into gossip too?
Seeing Yu Jiu glance at him, Zhang Yangfei said, “He’s been staring at you for an entire class. If we don’t figure out what’s going on, he won’t be able to concentrate in the next period either.”
As the class monitor of Class 1, he had a duty to oversee his classmates’ academic performance and help solve any issues.
So he was definitely not being nosy.
Yu Jiu: “…”
Even though Zhang Yangfei didn’t say a name, everyone knew who he was talking about.
Yu Jiu turned to look at Yu San, who was staring at him with burning curiosity. Then he turned back and said, “I just accidentally brushed against him when I fell on the basketball court. He saw it and bought me some medicine out of kindness.”
He explained, thinking that would be the end of it. But instead, the two people in front of him gave him even stranger looks.
Yu San said, “Jiu-ge, actually… we all saw it.”
Yu Jiu: “?”
He turned his head. “Saw what?”
Yu San hesitated before speaking. “The injury on your forehead—it’s really red and swollen…”
He had seen it while browsing the school forum after Yu Jiu left the classroom.
Yu Jiu was stunned for a moment. He instinctively raised a hand to check the position of his bangs, suddenly worried that Yu San would ask how he got the injury.
But his concern turned out to be unnecessary.
Yu San looked at him with an expression full of distress. “Jiu-ge, did he hit you? Did you two get into a fight outside school? Is he feeling guilty now and trying to make up for it by bringing you medicine?”
Yu Jiu: “…”
Not only was Yu Jiu speechless, but Zhang Yangfei also gave Yu San a look of exasperation.
How did this guy even get into Class 1?
Yu Jiu was both amused and helpless. “No, this injury has nothing to do with him.”
He really couldn’t understand Yu San’s train of thought.
“Then what happened? He waited outside the classroom for a long time, you know!”
“…”
Yu Jiu looked at Zhang Yangfei again.
Zhang Yangfei nodded.
That part was true.
That person had come to Class 1, asked if Yu Jiu was inside, and, after not finding him, didn’t leave the medicine with anyone else. Instead, he stood in the hallway, waiting for Yu Jiu to return.
Clearly, his purpose wasn’t just to deliver medicine.
Yu Jiu fell silent again.
Why exactly…? He wanted to know that too.
“Oh, I get it now!” Yu San suddenly exclaimed. “He must have ulterior motives! Jiu-ge, what if he likes you?”
Yu Jiu: “…”
Zhang Yangfei: “…”
With both of them staring at him in speechless disbelief, Yu San’s excitement gradually faded. He muttered in a low voice, “I mean, it makes sense. Why else would he be acting so considerate for no reason? And at the school gate, he even put his hands on you…”
Yu Jiu thought to himself, He only used his hands, not his feet.
Zhang Yangfei, on the other hand, retorted, “Not everyone thinks like you.”
Back in their first year, Yu San had actually confessed to Yu Jiu, but he had been rejected very decisively.
Thinking about it, Yu San looked a little disappointed. “What’s wrong with me? I was just bravely pursuing true love. If Jiu-ge hadn’t said he didn’t like pheromones with an alcohol scent, and if mine weren’t beer-scented, I wouldn’t have given up so easily.”
Yu San continued, “[mfn]In arithmetic, 9 divided by 3 equals 3, which is a euphemism for expressing love (I only have you in my heart), but this is an internet joke in China and is rarely used in real life to confess feelings.
chinese say “除”, sometimes it means be divided by, sometimes means except. So here it can mean both divide or substract.[/mfn]There’s a saying—‘You’re 9, I’m 3. 9 minus 3 is still 3.’ And we both have the surname Yu! Jiu-ge is 9, I’m 3. Even without me, he still has me! It’s fate!”
He looked quite proud of himself.
Zhang Yangfei mercilessly poured cold water on his enthusiasm. “Give it a rest. You’re 3, he’s 9. Without you, he’s still a 6 flying high.”
Yu San: “…”
Listening to their pointless argument, Yu Jiu shook his head with a helpless smile.
Could feelings really be calculated like subtraction and division?
He had never liked anyone before, so he didn’t know.
Since the conversation had completely gone off track, he couldn’t be bothered to correct them. Instead, he grabbed a set of math problems and started working on them.
But when he saw the medicine on his desk, his mind drifted back to the person who had given it to him.
That person had bought medicine for him out of kindness and had even waited outside for a long time, missing evening study.
Shouldn’t he at least say thank you?
Yes, he should!
Yu Jiu thought about it for a moment, then took out his phone and opened WeChat—only to realize a problem.
Oh. He and Zhai Chi didn’t have each other on WeChat.
They didn’t even have each other’s phone numbers.
The Next Day
After a week of continuous rain, the campus of Yizhong finally saw a sunny day.
But the students of Class 1 still rarely stepped out of the classroom.
With only two days left before the monthly exams, even the top students from regular classes were starting to push themselves. Meanwhile, the elite class students wished they could live inside their textbooks.
Yu Jiu was no exception.
Since he couldn’t play basketball for now, studying was his only source of enjoyment.
Over the next two days, he didn’t see Zhai Chi again—not even in the dorms.
Meanwhile, Class 10 and Class 1 felt like two completely different worlds.
For most students in Class 10, after surviving first year, their grades were pretty much set in stone. Monthly exams? Not important.
Only a handful of students were still working hard, unwilling to leave their seats.
Zhai Chi was among them.
But instead of looking at a practice book, he was looking at a ranking list.
“What’s the point of staring at the ranking? Staring at someone else’s grades won’t magically insert his own name into the list,” someone muttered sarcastically.
Several students gathered around Xu Shi, watching Zhai Chi’s back and making low remarks.
Ever since that day in the office, during the last period of evening study, Zhou Ya—probably out of spite—had specifically called out Zhai Chi’s name and announced to the whole class that he wanted to transfer to Class 1.
The reactions were mixed—shock, doubt, amusement, reluctance.
But Zhai Chi ignored all of it. Instead, he turned to his deskmate and asked, “So, Class 1 assigns seats based on grades?”
His deskmate replied, “Not entirely, but the first and second-ranked students always sit together. I’ve been to Class 1 a few times to find someone, and I always see Yu Jiu and the class monitor sitting together.”
Class monitor Zhang Yangfei.
Zhai Chi scrolled through past ranking lists for the second-year science students on the school forum.
The top ten rankings fluctuated, but the first and second positions never changed.
Yu Jiu was always first, with an average total score of over 720.
Zhang Yangfei was always second, averaging over 700.
Zhai Chi glanced at a printed ranking sheet of the last exam’s top 50.
He stared at it for a while, then suddenly picked up a pen and drew a line through the name of the student ranked second.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Zhang Yangfei was solving problems when he suddenly shivered. He instinctively sat up straighter and looked around in confusion.
With exams coming up, who was thinking about him now?
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Author’s note:
They’re thinking about your seat!
Since, I haven’t updated for a while, there will be daily updates for a couple of days
