During second period, the English teacher droned on at the front of the classroom while Chen Zhao rested his chin in his hand and listened.
The reason he was resting his chin in his hand was that Deng Zixin had slapped him so hard the night before last. He'd been fine yesterday, but today his face had started to swell. Worried his classmates might notice and ask questions, Chen Zhao kept his hand over his face to hide it.
Xu Lanlan wasn't listening to the lesson. She propped her textbook up to block her face and looked down at her phone.
With the college entrance exam drawing near, Xu Lanlan was studying less and less. Every day, she either buried herself in a novel or played on her phone from morning to night. She'd probably given up on the exam completely.
Even though Chen Zhao knew Xu Lanlan had given up, they were desk mates, and he couldn't bear to watch her throw her future away. He tried to talk her around:
"Xu Lanlan, why aren't you studying? What's wrong with taking a look at your textbook? If you don't want to listen to the teacher, you could at least work through some practice questions!"
Xu Lanlan didn't even look up. Her fingers kept tapping at the screen as she replied nonchalantly, "I'm not planning to take the college entrance exam seriously. There are only a few dozen days left, and I don't know anything. There's no point reviewing."
Chen Zhao panicked. "But there are still a few dozen days left! How does that saying go? Until the outcome is decided, you and I could both be dark horses! If you work hard for the next few dozen days, you might be able to get into a college. What are