Yu Shao, Could You Come Out for a Moment?

"Oi, bro, let me tell you something awesome."

During morning self-study, Zhou De animatedly bragged to the students in the front row about yesterday's results. "The five of us queued up at the internet café yesterday. You know Armored Vehicle, right? We steamrolled the other side. Five straight wins! Five straight wins, brothers!"

"You ranked up to Platinum again?"

The student beside him was somewhat surprised by Zhou De's words and asked.

"Nope."

Zhou De shook his head. "Then we lost eight in a row."

"Pfft."

The student could not hold back his laughter. "Come on, Old Zhou, have you ever considered using your ID card and a photocopy of it to play four twos in Fight the Landlord?"

"We can't judge heroes by success or failure!"

Zhou De flew into a rage and immediately retorted, "And forget everyone else—how do you have the nerve to talk about me?"

"What did I do?"

The student in the front row pointed at himself, looking utterly baffled.

"You're forcing me to say it, huh?"

Zhou De said viciously, "If I tell everyone about this, you'll become the laughingstock of Class Seven for an entire year!"

The boy was instantly confused. He thought it over carefully and felt that he had never done anything clownish. "Then say it!"

"I'm really saying it!"

"Say it, then!"

"Don't think I don't know. You folded a whole bunch of Origami Cranes for Wu Shuya from Class Three to confess to her, then got rejected. I saw you crying on the field that day while hugging the jar full of Origami Cranes."

Zhou De looked smug, feeling as though he had finally gotten his revenge.

But Zhou De quickly realized that after he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the entire classroom suddenly became a little strange.

"Wait... Old Zhou."

The boy in the front row looked at him oddly. "She accepted the Origami Cranes I gave her that day, then gave me a jar she had folded herself. I was a little moved, so... I couldn't help myself."

Zhou De froze. "You two got together?"

"Yep."

The boy in the front row nodded, looking at Zhou De with the pitying gaze one reserved for an idiot.

"Pfft."

Yu Shao, who was sitting beside Zhou De, finally could not hold it in anymore.

He knew it was rude, but he wanted to howl. He really wanted to howl!

The pain of losing rank points yesterday had been fully compensated for by Zhou De today. Being reborn really was wonderful—he got to watch clown performances for free every day.

If this was the price of losing rank points, Yu Shao was more than willing to lose a few more times.

"Damn it, Old Yu, even you're laughing at your brother?"

Zhou De became angry from embarrassment and bared his teeth and claws, ready to fight Yu Shao to the death.

Soon, morning self-study ended. Yu Shao stood up and called to Zhou De, "Old Zhou, wanna go to the bathroom?"

Yu Shao felt that he had truly adapted to being a high school student. He had even picked up the bad habit of calling classmates to go to the bathroom together.

"No."

Zhou De had just suffered a blow and had not recovered yet. He was currently emoing by himself, so he rejected Yu Shao without a second thought.

Yu Shao laughed inwardly and shook his head. He did not plan to call anyone else either. He pulled out his chair, preparing to go to the bathroom alone.

Just then, Yu Shao suddenly noticed that Cheng Mengjie, intentionally or not, was blocking the aisle in front of him.

"Please move."

Yu Shao said.

Hearing that, Cheng Mengjie became somewhat angry. "Yu Shao, what do you mean?"

Yesterday, she had thought Yu Shao would take the initiative to come apologize and admit his mistake. She had even planned to respond to him coldly when the time came.

But she waited the entire day yesterday, and Yu Shao never came to see her. After school, he had not even sent her a single WeChat message.

She had clearly shown that she was angry yesterday. In the past, Yu Shao would have already come apologizing with milk tea and a long sappy message.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Yu Shao asked, puzzled.

Cheng Mengjie could not hold it in anymore. "Why haven't you been looking for me these past few days?"

"Why should I look for you?"

Yu Shao looked at Cheng Mengjie strangely. "I need to go to the bathroom. Can you move?"

Why should I look for you?

Cheng Mengjie was furious at those words, but she did not know how to retort for a moment. She could only pretend not to care as she stepped aside and let Yu Shao pass.

Watching Yu Shao's retreating figure, Cheng Mengjie grew angrier the more she thought about it. She was so angry that she almost wanted to cry.

"Mengjie, what's going on between you and Yu Shao?"

The slightly chubby girl sitting beside Cheng Mengjie noticed that something was off with her mood. Tugging lightly at her sleeve, she whispered, "Did you two have a fight?"

It was no secret in the class that Yu Shao had always been pursuing Cheng Mengjie.

"What fight? I'm not even dating him. I think he's deliberately trying to make me mad." Cheng Mengjie bit her lip. "I'm never talking to him again."

"Oh, don't do that. Yu Shao's pretty good, and he's even kind of cute."

The slightly chubby girl quickly tried to persuade her. "Maybe you never responded to him, so he couldn't keep it up anymore?"

"I did respond to him. I even took the initiative to chat with him the day before yesterday."

Cheng Mengjie sounded aggrieved. "He said he liked me, so shouldn't I see whether he's determined enough?"

"So do you actually like Yu Shao or not?"

The slightly chubby girl asked, "If he just keeps persisting, will you agree to date him? You said you wouldn't date in high school, but were you actually just testing him?"

"Not necessarily."

Cheng Mengjie thought about it. "I do have a little affection for him, but not enough to make my heart flutter. He needs to persist until I fall for him before I'll agree."

"What if you never fall for him?" the slightly chubby girl could not help asking.

"Then there's nothing to be done. It just means we aren't suited for each other," Cheng Mengjie said. "But he has to persist first. Maybe I'll fall for him soon?"

The slightly chubby girl was a little stunned by that. At first, she felt that something about it was wrong, but after thinking carefully, she somehow could not find anything wrong with it.

That was right. Didn't liking someone mean you had to persist?

Before long, Yu Shao returned from the bathroom.

When Cheng Mengjie saw Yu Shao, she gave a cold snort and turned her face away.

Yu Shao found it rather baffling, but he did not pay it much mind and soon returned to his seat.

The second period was physics. The physics teacher was a tall, thin middle-aged man. His lessons were quite good, but his flaw was that his voice was too soft, and he did not wear a microphone. Yu Shao had to strain his ears to hear clearly.

Halfway through class, Yu Shao suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhou De reading a book beside him.

At first, Yu Shao thought Zhou De was reading something like Why Do Married Women Stay Out All Night? Why Do Middle-Aged Men Sleep at Hair Salons? But after glancing over a few more times, he was shocked.

It was actually a copy of 38 Lectures on Go Fundamentals!

"Zhou De, you're reading a Go book?" Yu Shao asked in a low voice.

"Can't I?"

With an expression that said, I have been betrayed, Zhou De said, "You're the only one allowed to secretly study Go and show off? Why wouldn't I, Zhou De, want to defeat heaven by half a move?"

Yu Shao immediately felt that Go had been defiled.

"You know, I thought about it yesterday. I'm the most suitable person to learn Go."

Zhou De lowered his voice and whispered, "After all, I already have top-tier strength. All I lack is top-tier intelligence. As long as I learn a little of the basics of Go, everyone will think I have both. Not many people can play Go, so it's perfect for showing off."

"If you want to earn Conduct Points, just say so. No need to beat around the bush."

Yu Shao exposed Zhou De's true thoughts with a single sentence, then earnestly advised him, "Old Zhou, listen to me. You're different from other people. Whatever you do, don't put your mind into studying."

"Looking down on me?" Zhou De flew into a rage.

"Yu Shao, Zhou De, both of you stand up and listen to the lesson!"

At that moment, the physics teacher on the podium, whose voice had been as soft as a mosquito's buzz, suddenly raised it several octaves.

Yu Shao and Zhou De immediately stood up sheepishly.

At last, the bell rang. After the physics teacher left, Yu Shao and Zhou De heaved sighs of relief and finally sat back down in their respective loyal seats.

"Old Yu, believe it or not, I'll definitely learn Go within this week!" Zhou De made a bold declaration.

"I believe you."

Yu Shao nodded very seriously.

The words Zhou De had been about to say were instantly stuck in his throat, and he nearly suffered internal injuries from holding them back.

How the hell can you believe me? You're not supposed to believe me!

Just then, the entire Class Seven suddenly fell silent.

Zhou De's body jolted, and he looked toward the window by the corridor like a hungry dog.

No one was there?

Zhou De was momentarily confused. How could the classroom have suddenly become this quiet if Xu Ziqin had not passed by?

But he quickly discovered the reason.

Xu Ziqin was standing gracefully at the entrance of Class Seven. Her temperament was as cool and pure as a narcissus. Even the school uniform that students constantly complained about somehow looked noble on her.

In the complete silence.

Xu Ziqin swept her gaze around the Class Seven classroom before finally looking at Yu Shao. "Yu Shao, could you come out for a moment?"