Chapter 18

Hoshinomiya walked into the classroom as if she had just struck gold, the only difference being that she was holding a stack of test papers this time. She looked at the students of Class B, who were sitting up straight, with a beaming smile. "Since it's the end of the month, we're going to have a test today. Could the students who receive the papers please pass them to the back?" With that, Hoshinomiya divided the papers into several stacks and handed them to the students in the front row. Yuan Yuyuan glanced at the paper; it wasn't just one subject, but a composite of all core subjects. Thanks to the warnings Yuan Yuyuan had given upon enrollment, the students of Class B instinctively felt something was off and cast their gazes toward him, but he merely shook his head to signal them to focus on the exam. Why is everyone looking at me? Don't they know you shouldn't whisper during class? Especially when an exam is in progress. Yuan Yuyuan became increasingly convinced that if Honami were left to lead the class alone, it would devolve into a situation of one leader and dozens of overgrown infants. Seeing that the students of Class B treated Yuan Yuyuan as their backbone, Hoshinomiya was quite satisfied, but she didn't forget her routine. "The results of this test are for reference only; they will not be reflected on your report cards, and there is no risk of expulsion, so please feel free to do your best. However, cheating is still prohibited." Yuan Yuyuan felt something was wrong. He skimmed through the paper and found that the difficulty of the questions increased in a tiered manner. The earlier questions could be answered even by middle schoolers, but the last three were severely beyond the curriculum. If a third-year student were to take it, they might be able to solve one, but a college student would likely be left scratching their heads. No wonder it wouldn't be reflected on the report card; what could such questions possibly reveal? That a certain student lacks the ability to participate in the college entrance exam? The most bizarre part was that these three questions were worth the exact same amount of points as the first question. Since the first class, he had discovered that the homeroom teachers at this school had a fixed set of rhetoric, and these scripts were likely used to mislead students. But if one scrutinized the wording, one would find that what was said was technically correct. The grades wouldn't be reflected on the report card, so the results of this test would be reflected elsewhere and used as a reference. He didn't think this school was kind enough to reward points based on rankings. But it didn't matter; he still had to get a good score, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to enjoy his current leisure. He didn't want to spend his days laughing and joking with them like Honami just to win their hearts. After handing in the papers, Honami turned back to ask Yuan Yuyuan, "Yuyuan, did you feel like this test paper was a bit strange?" Yuan Yuyuan told Honami his suspicions, and her expression shifted into a pie chart of thirty percent shock, thirty percent self-reproach, and forty percent admiration. "You thought of all this just from a few sentences? By comparison, I'm really useless. It's a good thing I have you." "It's nothing special, I just had a preconceived notion that this school is a bit off. How did you do, Honami?" "The last three questions were too hard, I don't know if I got them right, but I'm confident about getting an eighty-five. Someone as smart as you must have gotten over a ninety, right?" "It was alright, I should be able to get a ninety-five." "Eh? Yuyuan, you're showing off, aren't you? You even used the 'it was alright' that people only say when they've failed." At this moment, Honami's two little sidekicks arrived. Amikura, a fan of this couple, didn't want to disturb the two, but she couldn't resist Chihiro Shiranami's pestering. "Honami, let's go back together." Honami still wanted to discuss the test with Yuan Yuyuan, so she invited him to join them. Yuan Yuyuan glanced at the jealous Chihiro Shiranami and ultimately declined with a smile. Speaking of which, he had Shiina to thank; after Manabu Horikita heard about the situation, he gave Yuan Yuyuan time off, so the two didn't have to go to the Student Council every day to process those meaningless documents like before. First Semester: Chapter 19, Chapter 18: Insulting Superiors. In the blink of an eye, it was May 1st, the day the school distributed money. After waking up, Yuan Yuyuan checked his personal points. Excluding the transactions with Manabu Horikita and Class D, he only had 9,200 more than yesterday. He knew that becoming Class A in the second month was out of the question. But he couldn't just sit and wait for death; he decided to recoup some losses, or at least make Class B feel the pressure. He then contacted Honami and Kanzaki, asking them to cooperate with him. Since it was for the good of the class, the two naturally had no reason to refuse. Everyone was chatting in the classroom when they saw their great contributor, Yuan Yuyuan, walk in with a gloomy face. The air pressure in the room dropped, and finally, the ever-capable Honami stepped up to speak. "Yuyuan, you're here. This month's points..." "I already know. As expected, even if we knew the rules beforehand, it still wasn't enough. If you ask me, Honami, you're still too indulgent with them." Yuan Yuyuan put on a sour face and interrupted Honami. He looked angry, as if he were furious at everyone's incompetence. After all, under the high-pressure leadership of that female devil, the people in Class A probably wouldn't even dare to sneeze during class. "But for something like this, and 92,000 isn't exactly a small amount... is it?" The students of Class B were actually quite satisfied with the result, but Honami knew that Yuan Yuyuan's goal was Class A, and Class B's score of 92 points was clearly not enough to reward his efforts. "It's certainly not a small amount, if you exclude the fact that I told them exactly what to do to get a perfect score on the very first day." "Don't say that. This can't all be blamed on the students; I have a responsibility too. As long as..." "As long as we work harder next time, we'll definitely be able to do it, right?" "I'm sorry..." Honami seemed to be overdoing it a bit. She looked so aggrieved after he only said a few words; he wished she would restrain herself a little. The others were looking at him with the eyes one would use for an abuser! Yuan Yuyuan didn't dare to continue acting with Honami. He turned his head to scan the other students, and everyone who met his gaze lowered their heads. "Is this your strategy? Or are you all just so content to let an innocent Honami take the fall?" "Yuyuan, don't say that. It's all my fault for not keeping the students in check." "Kanzaki, you tell me, why did it end up like this?" Ignoring Honami, who was adding her own drama to the situation, Yuan Yuyuan turned to question Kanzaki Ryuji. Seeing Yuan Yuyuan lose his temper at the two people he was usually closest to, the others didn't dare to make a sound for a moment. Kanzaki didn't disappoint Yuan Yuyuan, finding a flimsy excuse for everyone. "I believe it was because you made the test too simple, which caused everyone to let their guard down." "So, I'm the one who did wrong? Should I have watched you waste all your points before speaking up?" "This..." Yuan Yuyuan felt that the lesson was enough. If the plot continued like this, he would have to start making personal attacks, so he had to give a wink to Hoshinomiya, who was standing outside the corridor smiling while watching him reprimand Kanzaki, even though class time had already started. Hoshinomiya gave him some face, walked in, and interrupted everyone. "Alright, everyone back to your seats. We'll start the morning meeting now." Hoshinomiya took out two large posters and fixed them to the blackboard with magnets. The one on the left listed the class point situation for each class. Class A had 940 points, Class B had 920, Class C had 490, and Class D had 430. It was certainly a clear distinction, but could someone tell him what was going on with Class D's points? Yuan Yuyuan had originally thought that Class B wouldn't get first...