Looks Like You Really Memorized Them

Ding Yebai hadn't expected to run into Sister Yang Zhi over the weekend.

[You and my grandma both like Chrysanthemum Terrace.]

That one sentence kept circling around in Ding Yebai's mind.

It was practically tying itself into knots.

So Grandma was a Jay Chou fan too?

The more Ding Yebai thought about it, the more distracted he became.

"Ding Yebai! What are you doing? You're already spacing out in the first class on Monday?"

The math teacher called out, then walked over to him with a fierce expression that made people's hearts tremble.

"Getting this excited in the very first class of the morning? Everyone else is seriously working on problems. What are you doing here?"

Ding Yebai said, "Doing problems."

The math teacher asked, "How's it going?" As he spoke, he tilted his head to look at what Ding Yebai had written.

Ding Yebai generously held up his workbook for him to see.

The math teacher glanced over the workbook, then stared straight into his eyes.

At the most awkward moment, he finally said, "Ding Yebai, how do you think you did?"

Without changing expression, Ding Yebai said, "I think I got them all right."

The math teacher laughed at his confident, cocky attitude as he turned away. "Really? Heh, I think so too. Alright, keep working through the rest of the problems."

That brat has the same cocky streak I had back then. He sighed inwardly.

Ding Yebai: "..."

The classmates were already used to it. In their eyes, Ding Yebai's math and science scores had long become godlike.

Far beyond their reach.

After class.

Ding Yebai went to the restroom.

Simply passing by a few classrooms was enough to cause a small commotion.

Most girls their age were reserved and shy. In private, they praised him to the heavens for being handsome, but in person, they did not even dare look directly at him.

Ding Yebai had the looks and aura of a cool, aloof handsome guy. On top of that, he was an excellent student, good at every sport, and far more composed than his peers. The girls around him called him the [Real-life version of Jiang Zhishu].

There was a world of difference between an act and something ingrained in one's bones. Anyone observant could tell at a glance.

If his cold and detached persona had been an act, perhaps so many people would not have liked him in the first place.

But he truly had once devoted himself wholeheartedly to studying and rejected every kind of romance.

When he was younger, Third Uncle, the academic genius he admired most, had dropped out of school for the girl he loved and fallen from a genius into an ordinary man. That had affected Ding Yebai deeply, so ever since then, he had adhered to the belief that [The wise do not fall in love].

Love was, at most, three or four months of hormones. Living steadily and dedicating oneself to science was what truly mattered.

After he had finally finished middle school, he entered high school only to be surrounded by another huge crowd of fangirls.

The truth was that, to girls currently going through puberty, boys like him were simply overflowing with charm.

Inside the restroom.

Ding Yebai flushed and washed his hands.

That guy Lu Shuai flicked the water droplets from his hands right onto Ding Yebai's face.

Still as mischievous as ever.

Ding Yebai helplessly wiped the water from his face and walked out beside him.

"Hey, Xiao Bai, you got 150 on that last math quiz again. I thought that paper was pretty hard, especially that conic section problem. You couldn't solve it without taking a detour."

Ding Yebai said, "It was indeed a little difficult. But if you thought it through, the answer came out."

Lu Shuai said, "But on the English quiz... I barely passed."

Looking ahead, Ding Yebai casually raised an eyebrow. "You barely passed... I didn't even pass. Eighty-nine. Forget it, I'm used to it already. I've always hovered around the passing line."

"I just got lucky. I guessed a few more reading questions right." Lu Shuai patted his shoulder, wearing an earnest expression. "Hey, if your English score were just a little higher, you could get into a better school. Why not find a way to improve it?"

Ding Yebai said, "My mom... no, my Older Sister found one of her friends to help me."

"What?!" Lu Shuai cried out in surprise. After drawing strange looks from the people around them, he hurriedly pretended to be calm, like an ordinary passerby in a rush.

Ding Yebai still looked indifferent. "An Older Sister who's twenty-three. She's a master's student at Jinghuai University and was the top humanities student in Jinghuai that year."

Lu Shuai thought for a few seconds before saying, "The top humanities student went to Jinghuai University? Jinghuai ranks in the top five nationally, but it still can't compare to those other two. If she was the top student, she could have gone to a better school. There was no need for her to stay here."

Ding Yebai said, "I find it strange too."

Lu Shuai said, "A college student? Why didn't your sister find you an experienced older teacher?"

At that, Ding Yebai had nothing to say.

"She's my sister's junior schoolmate. She's tutoring me for free to repay my sister a favor. Of course, she must be good at her job, or my sister wouldn't have asked her."

The real reason—that it saved money—was simply too embarrassing to say aloud.

"If she's so good at her job, why is your English still only eighty-nine?"

That sentence was a fatal blow.

The moment Ding Yebai heard it, a small flame burned in his chest. He did not know what exactly he was being stubborn about, but he immediately turned to Lu Shuai and said, "She's taught me for less than five days. How could results show up that quickly?"

Lu Shuai was instantly dumbfounded by his resolute expression. An awkward smile squeezed onto his lips as he asked in confusion, "Xiao Bai, why are you getting so worked up?"

Hm?

Ding Yebai's furrowed brows instantly relaxed, and he looked at him somewhat blankly.

That was right.

Why was he getting worked up?

Was he upset that Lu Shuai questioned his English, or that he questioned Sister Yang Zhi's ability?

If it was about English, Lu Shuai was only stating a fact. His English really was poor. Poor was poor, and he had always admitted it openly...

"Is that Older Sister pretty?"

They were almost at the classroom door when Lu Shuai suddenly asked.

Ding Yebai came back to himself and calmly said, "She's alright, I guess..."

Lu Shuai frowned. "Cut it out. I saw you were about to say she was pretty."

Ding Yebai refused to yield. "I'm there to study, not to stare at her face."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh... How hypocritical." Lu Shuai narrowed his eyes, looking every bit the sly little rascal. "You're this nervous? It's rare to see you make that expression."

The only thing that could make Ding Yebai argue over something was probably an exam answer.

"You two?"

The English teacher suddenly appeared behind them, holding a stack of books. In a calm voice, she said, "Class has started. Why aren't you getting inside and sitting down? Blocking the doorway—do you dislike me so much that you don't want me to come in and teach?"

Her voice was not loud, but the Mature older sister type English teacher's voice always put pressure on the students.

Ding Yebai and Lu Shuai froze. In that moment, it felt as though their ears had stopped working and their minds had gone hazy.

Amid the laughter of the other students, Ding Yebai and Lu Shuai quickly entered the classroom.

The English teacher stood at the podium adjusting the loudspeaker. With her head lowered, she said, "Take out yesterday's worksheet. We're going over it this period."

The loudspeaker made a crackling "bzzz" sound.

The students were long used to it. Some covered their ears, while others could not even be bothered.

Uh...

As though suddenly remembering something, she sharply raised her head and swiftly scanned the classroom.

Everyone knew the teacher was looking for someone to give her their worksheet, so they all lowered their heads, pretending to know nothing and trying their best not to make eye contact.

After a while.

In the utterly silent classroom, a leisurely voice said, "Lu Shuai, give me your paper."

Lu Shuai said, "Ah! Me again?"

The English teacher said, "What do you mean, 'ah'? There are only a few students in this class with bad English. If I don't call on you, who should I call on?"

At that moment, the students around Lu Shuai all lowered their heads and snickered. Some complained that he was the "chosen one," while others patted their chests in relief that they had not been called.

There was no helping it. When a math and science genius made a little blunder in a weak subject, it always drew a small burst of laughter from the class.

As for Ding Yebai, he was just glad the teacher had not called on him. He had actually forgotten to do this worksheet, and he had only hurriedly circled some multiple-choice answers without even reading the questions.

Two minutes later.

Once Lu Shuai handed his worksheet to the English teacher, class officially began.

The English teacher wrote all the correct answers on the blackboard, then had everyone check their work and score themselves before explaining the questions one by one.

She also graded Lu Shuai's paper while she was at it.

As she marked it wrong with a red pen, she shook her head regretfully and clicked her tongue.

The English teacher said, "Lu Shuai, you still got too many reading questions wrong. I told you to underline the answers in the passage. Why didn't you?"

Lu Shuai said, "..."

The English teacher said, "You and Ding Yebai—I've told you so many times, yet neither of you underlines them. Fine, remember it next time. Let's begin..."

Ding Yebai lowered his head and frowned. Why did he get dragged into this too?

That evening.

Ding Yebai had already been in tutoring for twenty minutes by the time he got home.

After finishing the dictation, he handed his notebook to Yang Zhi for grading.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

Yang Zhi graded it incredibly quickly as well.

Ding Yebai pushed up his glasses, feeling a little nervous.

"Ding Yebai."

"Yeah?"

After grading the dictation, Yang Zhi looked up and could not help laughing when she saw the slight unease and panic in Ding Yebai's eyes.

"Why are you so nervous?" she asked with a smile.

"I'm worried I got a lot wrong." Ding Yebai sat upright and answered honestly.

"It's fine. You did much better than last time." Yang Zhi returned the dictation notebook to him and smiled slightly. "Looks like you really memorized them."