Money-Adding Hermit

After talking with a few students individually, Liu Shuying returned to the classroom to pack up.

"Next Saturday is a holiday, and there will be a parent-teacher meeting on the weekend. Students whose families don't have phones, remember to go back on Saturday and inform your parents..."

"There's still half an hour until the end of evening self-study. The class monitor, pay attention to discipline!"

With that, she left.

Teachers wouldn't constantly supervise evening self-study.

The class monitor, Li Rui, stood up: "Everyone, no talking. Let's keep quiet."

After all, it was an experimental class; they had basic manners.

Even people like Li Jun and Guan Zhiqiang, although they couldn't focus on studying themselves, wouldn't make loud noises to disturb others.

At most, they would whisper and talk quietly.

Li Jun put on his MP3 earphones, lay on his desk, listened to music, and slept soundly. From time to time, he would open his eyes and look at Bian Guanyue. The more he looked, the more beautiful he found her, and he pondered how to get closer.

Guan Zhiqiang was still reading a novel, and unknowingly, saliva was dripping again.

Xie Yang was spacing out, pouting his lower lip and exhaling, playing by blowing the hair on his forehead.

Xu Haibo carefully reviewed the English questions he got wrong, took out the "Essay Against America" he had copied, and subtly pushed it in front of his deskmate, Wu Yuehan.

Wu Yuehan was a good student who was sure to get into a top-tier university. She read the article seriously and asked, "You wrote this?"

No sound was made, they communicated with lip-reading.

"It's Master Chen's article, for the New Concept competition," Xu Haibo replied.

He had always regarded Chen Guiliang as his idol. As long as Chen Guiliang did something he thought was amazing, he would actively promote it.

Wu Yuehan sincerely praised, "How impressive, truly worthy of being the Chinese class representative."

The more they talked, the less effective lip-reading became, and they gradually started making sounds.

Xu Haibo said, "I think Master Chen can win first prize. He should have participated in the New Concept Essay Competition long ago."

Wu Yuehan was very good at keeping the conversation going: "Maybe he can even get recommended to a prestigious university."

Yao Lingling, who sat behind them, lightly poked Wu Yuehan's shoulder with a pen: "Let me see."

Wu Yuehan passed the article back.

Yao Lingling savored it twice, trying to learn the writing method. But this kind of mixed classical and vernacular, four-six parallel prose was not something she could write, so she passed the article to her deskmate, Wang Lei.

Wang Lei glanced at it, not interested.

Yao Lingling then handed the article to the next desk, specifically explaining: "This is Master Chen's New Concept submission."

In just twenty minutes, the article had spread through half the classroom.

High school life was boring and monotonous; they had to find some fun for themselves, and passing around the article was a form of entertainment.

Moreover, they liked watching Chen Guiliang stir things up.

When demanding the school refund the senior year computer fees, only Li Jun in the entire class didn't sign. In the end, they achieved their goal, and the students were very excited, feeling a sense of honor for participating in a major event.

Chen Guiliang also gained great prestige among his classmates because of this.

Unknowingly, the article was passed to Wang Siyu, who sat in front of Chen Guiliang.

By this time, evening self-study was almost over. Wang Siyu turned around directly, leaned on Chen Guiliang's desk, and asked, "Master Chen, did you participate in the New Concept competition?"

Chen Guiliang nodded: "Trying my luck."

Wang Siyu said, "Your writing is so good, you'll definitely win a prize." She also waved her fist, "Go for it!"

"Thank you," Chen Guiliang replied with a smile.

The class atmosphere was still very friendly, and the students got along well. No one looked down on Chen Guiliang because he was too poor.

Except for Li Jun!

Bian Guanyue listened to their conversation without any reaction, constantly memorizing English words.

Wang Siyu chatted with Chen Guiliang for a few sentences, then curiously asked Bian Guanyue, "Student Bian, are you from Rong City?"

"Yes," Bian Guanyue only responded with one word.

Wang Siyu, however, was naturally outgoing: "Then do you live at school or commute?"

Bian Guanyue said, "Commute."

Wang Siyu said, "My home is in Fugui Garden Community. Where do you live? If it's on the way, we can go to and from school together."

"I live in the Old Alley in Back Street," Bian Guanyue said.

Wang Siyu regretted, "It's not on the way."

Zheng Feng, Wang Siyu's deskmate, had long wanted to talk to Bian Guanyue. Seizing the opportunity, he excitedly turned around: "I live near Back Street. The security there is a bit chaotic at night. I can walk you home after evening self-study."

"No need," Bian Guanyue always refused.

Zheng Feng was a little disappointed, but thinking that they didn't live far from each other and would likely meet often in the future, he secretly became happy again.

When they changed seats, Bian Guanyue was no longer wearing her hood. Her ponytail was somehow askew, and a strand of beautiful hair rested on her left shoulder.

Wang Siyu didn't treat herself as an outsider. She reached out to touch Bian Guanyue's hair and said with immense envy, "Your hair quality is really good, dry and smooth. What shampoo do you use?"

"It's a perm, has nothing to do with shampoo," Bian Guanyue said.

Wang Siyu asked, "What's a perm? Can hair be straightened?"

Li Jun stealthily leaned over. Because he was too tall, it was inconvenient for him to stand during self-study, so he half-squatted and said, "There's a place on Fuzhou Avenue that does perms. Business is especially good. I heard it's a new technology from abroad."

To join the conversation, Zheng Feng endured his disgust and picked up Li Jun's words: "I know the one on Fuzhou Avenue, it's called Hanliu Fashion Hair Salon. My sister got a perm there, it was really expensive, and my mom scolded her for it."

These three were discussing beauty and hair, which made Bian Guanyue feel annoyed.

She didn't like being disturbed.

Especially by strangers.

Bian Guanyue pulled up her hood again and tightened the drawstring on her hoodie collar, hiding her entire face in the hood, only revealing her eyes and nose.

It was clear she didn't want to communicate anymore.

Wang Siyu smiled awkwardly, turned back, sat up straight, and read her book.

Zheng Feng hesitated to speak but also gave up on striking up a conversation with the beauty.

Only Li Jun was still squatting beside her: "Student Bian, where did you buy that Nokia?"

Bian Guanyue didn't say a word, treating Li Jun as if he were air.

Li Jun continued, "I actually wanted to buy a Nokia too, but that model you have is sold out. I'll go to Rong City sometime and buy the same one as you."

Bian Guanyue remained silent.

Li Jun felt a bit embarrassed. He stood up, walked behind Chen Guiliang, and patted Chen Guiliang's shoulder, saying, "Let's switch seats."

"Get lost!"

Chen Guiliang's answer was simple and direct.

Li Jun took out some RMB: "Ten yuan for your seat."

Chen Guiliang finally looked at him properly: "Ten yuan? Are you trying to bribe a beggar?"

"Tch." Li Jun pouted.

Chen Guiliang added, "This seat and I have a deep bond. It'll cost at least a hundred yuan."

What the hell kind of deep bond!

Bian Guanyue was speechless.

She turned to look at Chen Guiliang, her eyes full of disdain, treating Chen Guiliang as a greedy scoundrel.

Spending a hundred yuan to buy a seat, Li Jun felt it was particularly not worth it. But if he could be seatmates with the beauty, it seemed worth any amount of money.

Li Jun gritted his teeth, took out his wallet, handed over the hundred yuan, and repeatedly urged, "Hurry up and move!"

Chen Guiliang grinned, took the money, picked up his desk, and moved it over.

Li Jun also quickly got busy, fantasizing about the days of being seatmates with the beauty. This guy was missing a screw in his head and didn't consider why Bian Guanyue had wanted to switch seats earlier.

"Ho ho, we're seatmates again," Guan Zhiqiang grinned foolishly at Chen Guiliang, who had moved over.

Chen Guiliang and Li Jun's transaction had already attracted the attention of nearby classmates. They had similar thoughts to Bian Guanyue and were a bit disgusted by Chen Guiliang's greed.

Just then, Chen Guiliang, who had settled back into his seat, smiled at Bian Guanyue and said, "Student Bian, aren't you going to switch back?"

Bian Guanyue was secretly annoyed, thinking about finding someone to switch seats with again tomorrow.

Hearing Chen Guiliang's question, Bian Guanyue was caught off guard by the sudden reversal. Her tense little face relaxed a bit. She picked up her desk and said to Guan Zhiqiang, "Classmate, please switch again."

Guan Zhiqiang was stunned for two seconds: "Ah? Oh, okay."

Seeing Bian Guanyue and Guan Zhiqiang also switching seats, Li Jun was instantly dumbfounded: "No... you can't switch. I... I paid a hundred yuan!"

"Excuse me, please don't block the way," Bian Guanyue said.

Li Jun was afraid of making the beauty unhappy, so he could only step aside and watch her move the desk.

Guan Zhiqiang carried his desk over and set it down, grinning foolishly at Li Jun: "Ho ho, we're seatmates again."

"Seatmate your mother!" Li Jun cursed in a low voice.

Being inexplicably cursed at, a flash of anger crossed Guan Zhiqiang's face, but it quickly disappeared, and he soon took out his novel, grinning foolishly again.

Li Jun had nowhere to vent his frustration. He walked up to Chen Guiliang and held out his hand: "Give me my money back!"

Chen Guiliang asked, "What money?"

Li Jun said, "The hundred yuan for buying the seat."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Then did you buy the seat?"

Li Jun was furious: "What's the difference between this and not buying it!"

Chen Guiliang said, "You just need to answer, did you buy the seat or not?"

"I'm..."

Li Jun was instantly speechless.

If he answered that he had bought it, then the transaction would be complete, and there would be no legitimate reason to ask for the hundred yuan back.

But he had indeed bought it.

"Pfft..."

Listening to their conversation, Bian Guanyue couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She quickly covered her mouth, her hood covering her face as she lay on the desk. But her shoulders were still slightly shaking, clearly struggling to suppress her laughter.

Bian Guanyue thought to herself, this new deskmate of hers was truly interesting.

Li Jun was so angry his lungs were about to explode. He grabbed Chen Guiliang's sleeve. "Are you going to give me back the money or not?"

Chen Guiliang said calmly, "Classmate Li Jun, please don't be impulsive. Classmate Bian Guanyue just transferred to our class. If she sees classmates fighting on the first day, what will she think? She'll definitely think this class isn't good, that there are bad students affecting the learning atmosphere, and maybe she'll apply to transfer to another class."

Li Jun continued to tug at Chen Guiliang's sleeve. He glared angrily at Chen Guiliang, then looked at Bian Guanyue, who was trying to hold back her laughter.

He looked up again and saw that many classmates were also trying to suppress their laughter.

He knew he had become a clown.

"Damn it!"

Li Jun let go of Chen Guiliang's sleeve, grabbed his backpack, and left. In the blink of an eye, he was out of the classroom.

Evening study hadn't ended yet, but Li Jun couldn't stay any longer. He fled home as if escaping.

He was extremely concerned about his reputation, but this time he had lost face completely.

The class monitor, Li Rui, added insult to injury: "Evening study hasn't ended yet. Please, classmates, do not leave early!"

Hearing this, Li Jun ran even faster.

"Hahahahaha!"

As soon as Li Jun left, the students in the back rows burst into laughter.

The students in the front rows, however, didn't know what had happened. Hearing the sudden laughter, they turned their heads with confused expressions.

A few more minutes passed, and the bell for the end of evening study rang.

Bian Guanyue packed her backpack, walked two steps, then stopped and turned around to ask, "Classmate, what's your name?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Chen Guiliang. Chen with the ear radical. Gui from wealth and honor, Liang from kindness and goodness."

This terrible name was completely off.

He was neither wealthy nor kind.

Bian Guanyue introduced herself again: "My name is Bian Guanyue. My dad's last name is Bian, and my mom's last name is Guan."

(Recommended "Mountain and River Sacrifice" by Chicken Fork. If it's not good, you can scold him. If it's good, thank me for recommending a good book. Also, please vote for me with your monthly tickets.)