Apologize

During Evening Self-Study, Jiang Ning could still hear people discussing Zhuang Jianhui. Geng Lu, the girl at the desk in front of him, had a little baby fat on her face and was talking to her deskmate.

"Zhuang Jianhui went to Experimental Middle School in the provincial capital for junior high. He was already famous on their school's Tieba back then, and you can still find posts about him now."

"Wow, he's from the provincial capital?" the other girl exclaimed.

There was a massive gap between Hui Province's provincial capital and its other cities. As a result, people from the other cities had complicated feelings toward the capital. Those who liked it thought it was great and were proud of it, while those who disliked it refused to even acknowledge it as the provincial capital.

At first, Ma Shicheng had thought Zhuang Jianhui was pretty awesome, but as more and more girls talked about him, he gradually began to dislike the name. Grinning, he said, "He used to be from the provincial capital? Then why did he come to No.4 Middle School? Don't tell me he couldn't get into a high school over there!"

Geng Lu turned around and glanced at him. "He scored over seven hundred on the high school entrance exam. He could've gotten into No.2 Middle School easily. He came to No.4 Middle School because it's close to home."

"That's what you call being willful. He could clearly go to a better school, but he picked his high school based on his mood. That's so cool. No wonder he came from a provincial capital school."

When a fairly pretty girl praised another guy in front of a guy, it was naturally easy to provoke anger.

Sourly, Ma Shicheng said, "I think the provincial capital is just average. Compared to South City, which is even closer to us, isn't it still just a little brother?"

"If you've got the nerve, compare him to students from South City's key high schools."

Seeing Ma Shicheng's hostile tone, Geng Lu got angry too. She had never been the delicate, soft-spoken type of girl. "He can dunk. Can you? And he's handsome too."

Ma Shicheng really couldn't dunk. He couldn't even touch the backboard. But the mention of being handsome annoyed him. The day before yesterday, when he had boasted about his looks, Geng Lu had scorned him. Old grudges and new resentment flared up together, and he went straight on the attack.

"I don't think he's much more handsome than me. Everyone around me says I'm handsome."

"Wang Longlong, who do you think is more handsome, me or Zhuang Jianhui?"

With an honest-looking face, Wang Longlong said, "I think Ma Ge is more handsome!"

Ma Shicheng smugly turned to Guo Kunnan. "Who's more handsome?"

Guo Kunnan played along eagerly. "When it comes to looks, Ma Ge crushes Zhuang Jianhui."

Now Ma Shicheng looked at Geng Lu with contempt. "Your taste is just bad."

Geng Lu was speechless. She knew some boys were narcissistic, but this was the first time she had seen someone so narcissistic. It was simply ignorant.

She quoted a few lines of classical Chinese. "Zou Ji was over eight chi tall and strikingly handsome." Then she forgot the rest, so she skipped straight to, "How do I compare in beauty to Xu Gong of the North of the City? ... How could Xu Gong compare to you?"

Anyone who could get into No.4 Middle School had a decent junior high foundation, so they naturally understood the meaning of that text.

Geng Lu said, "Get it now?"

Ma Shicheng's expression darkened, but he replied in a strange tone, "What a cultured person. So cultured!"

Seeing the way he looked, Geng Lu knew he was completely beyond saving and turned back around.

Seeing Geng Lu back down, Ma Shicheng smiled smugly. She really didn't know her place.

He took out the Stride gum he had bought and handed one piece each to the boys who had backed him up.

During self-study, Shan Qingrong announced some news: on the final day of military training, September 9, there would be a training results competition. It would be held by class, and the Experimental Class would participate as well. The three best-performing classes would receive honorary Silk Banners.

The moment they heard this, the students below looked eager to give it a try. At this stage of life, high school students still had a strong sense of class honor. Unlike college students, they simply did not care whether their class was good or bad.

"I see you students use your phones quite a lot normally!" Shan Qingrong said with a smile, his gaze sweeping across several students.

The students he looked at immediately shrank back, not daring to meet his eyes.

Shan Qingrong said, "How about this? If Class 8 wins a Silk Banner this time, I'll install a power strip in the classroom and put it at the front so everyone can charge their devices easily."

As soon as he said that, the students became excited, especially the boarding students. There were no power strips in the dorms, and they did not dare charge in the classroom, so they could only go to the little convenience stores outside. Charging cost one yuan each time, which was ridiculously overpriced.

If Shan Qingrong really installed a power strip for them, it would be far more convenient.

"Old Class Teacher, we'll definitely bring first place back for you!" Several boarding students called out, while silently making up their minds. For the sake of charging openly in the classroom, they had to make the top three.

After Shan Qingrong left, with that external incentive, some boarding students quickly began rallying everyone. Guo Kunnan went around to several boys in a row, reminding them to be extra serious during military training.

When he reached Jiang Ning, Guo Kunnan glanced at him and skipped directly to the other students. In terms of how standard his military posture was, Jiang Ning was absolutely the best in their formation. Instructor Li had praised him several times.

He could ask anyone to be serious, but he couldn't possibly ask Jiang Ning to be serious!

At first, the classmates had not liked Jiang Ning much. Now that they knew about the competition, he had become much more pleasing to the eye.

As a result, Jiang Ning received several friendly looks in that short while, which he found rather amusing.

While the boarding students enthusiastically spread the word, they ran into a tough obstacle.

Song Sheng poured cold water over them. "It's just a power strip. Look at you all acting like this is real. There are twelve classes in the whole grade. Why would we make the top three? Not to mention the Experimental Class."

"You say that because it doesn't affect you. You commute from home. You don't need a power strip, but we do!" Guo Kunnan said unhappily.

"Yeah, I don't need one, so what the hell does it have to do with me?" Song Sheng replied coldly.

Shan Kaiquan mocked him from nearby. "He's just an idiot. Didn't you embarrass yourself enough two days ago?"

He was also a boarding student and hated people like Song Sheng the most.

"Say that again if you dare?" Song Sheng stood up and pointed at him.

Shan Kaiquan was not afraid at all. The moment Song Sheng stood up, Guo Kunnan and the other boarding students all rose to their feet. The two sides faced off, and the classroom atmosphere instantly grew tense.

Seeing this, Bai Yuxia, seated in the front row, frowned. "The Class Teacher just left. What are you doing here?"

"If you want to fight, go outside."

Since the prettiest girl in the class had stepped in to stop them, Shan Kaiquan did not continue confronting Song Sheng. He merely threw out a threat. "I'll let you off this time, fat piglet."

Song Sheng was already furious inside. Hearing that, he immediately snapped. He hated being called fat pig more than anything. Combined with the humiliation he had suffered yesterday, all the hostility that had been building up inside him exploded at once.

He suddenly charged forward, crashing into several desks and knocking them over as he swung his fist at Shan Kaiquan.

Song Sheng's sudden outburst startled the whole class. Several people were caught up in the chaos because of his charge.

Xue Yuantong had been sitting properly on her chair when she was suddenly clipped by him. Not only did her desk topple over, but the corner of it struck her arm as well. She rubbed her arm continuously in pain, her little face full of grievance.

Shan Kaiquan had not reacted in time either. In his haste, he raised his arms to block, but Song Sheng's fist smashed into them, leaving them numb and aching. Just as he was about to fight back, Song Sheng immediately threw another punch, striking him in the shoulder.

The surrounding students finally reacted and hurried over to break them up. Guo Kunnan grabbed Song Sheng from behind and signaled Shan Kaiquan with his eyes.

Shan Kaiquan kicked Song Sheng in the stomach. Before he could land a second kick, Song Sheng flung Guo Kunnan away.

Song Sheng raised his fist to hit Shan Kaiquan again, but this time even more boys crowded around and pulled the two apart.

Song Sheng's eyes were gloomy. "You're nothing but trash."

Shan Kaiquan cursed Song Sheng as a Madman inside. School had barely started, and he was already fighting. Wasn't he afraid of getting written up and disciplined?

The key was that the guy was incredibly strong. That one punch had left Shan Kaiquan's shoulder numb and aching.

The two cursed at each other a few times, but they ultimately did not fight again. Song Sheng walked back to his seat with a dark expression.

At that moment, a calm voice rang out from the classroom.

"You knocked over everyone's desks. Isn't it only fair that you apologize?"