Chapter 12

While Lu Chi and Pan Tianbo were whispering and students in every class were attending morning self-study, a voice suddenly came over the school broadcast.

In an instant, the entire school fell silent. Students in every class looked at one another, unsure of what had happened.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Yue Bin from Class One, Grade Two. I know that after the results of this weekly exam came out, everyone was curious about Lu Chi, who suddenly took first place. Some people even slandered Lu Chi for cheating... But I can prove that Lu Chi absolutely did not cheat. The guy is a genuine genius..."

Immediately afterward, the school broadcast suddenly played a recording of someone reciting notes backward. After listening for only a moment, students from every grade at Yanda Affiliated High School recognized them as the nine review notebooks Zhang Yang had made. Some particularly meticulous students immediately opened their notes, found the passages Lu Chi had recited, and, just like Zhang Yang had done that day, checked them word by word from back to front.

Time was limited, so Yue Bin could not play the entire recording over the school broadcast. After playing a short segment, he closed the page on his phone and continued, "While Lu Chi was hospitalized, he was already able to recite the contents of all nine notebooks backward fluently. Not only that, Lu Chi has the gift of Photographic Memory. I believe he must have memorized the textbooks too. With such a solid foundation, let alone scoring 702 on the weekly exam, I wouldn't find it strange even if he scored 742. If everyone still doesn't believe it, you can—ah—"

"Yue Bin! You again! Instead of attending morning self-study in your classroom this early in the morning, you came here to fool around..."

"Hey, hey, hey, Director Liao, don't pull my ear! Don't pull it, it hurts! Let go first, I'm almost done..."

"Not done yet, huh? So I'm the one interrupting you? Since you love talking so much, write a three-thousand-word self-criticism. At next Monday's flag-raising ceremony, I'll let you talk to your heart's content from the podium in front of the entire school..."

As he spoke, Director Liao shut off the campus broadcast with a sharp slap.

Yet the high school division of Yanda Affiliated High School was thrown into an uproar by those few short minutes.

"Lu Chi, you're amazing!"

"Is that for real? You actually memorized the review notes backward? Lu Chi, how did you do that?"

"I'm so jealous! If I had that ability, forget first place in the whole grade—I could probably take the National College Entrance Examination directly, right?"

Seeing how completely different his classmates' reactions were from before morning self-study, Lu Chi could not help but smile.

That Yue Bin... when had he recorded it? He had even gone to the school broadcast station to clear up the rumors for him.

Lu Chi blinked, feeling the faint gloom that had lingered in his heart dissipate.

Like dark clouds pierced by sunlight, the clouds and mist scattered away, revealing clear skies.

Chapter 12

"This is way too much!"

During the lunch break, sunlight spilled freely across the ground. On the sparsely populated field, the school heartthrob, whose idol image was an exceptionally heavy burden, lay spread-eagled on the artificial turf in the middle of the track. His wail immediately startled several sparrows into flight.

Zhang Yang, sitting cross-legged nearby, nodded repeatedly and chimed in indignantly, "Exactly. We were clearly being united and helpful classmates, clearing up rumors for someone. Even if the school didn't praise us for cleaning up the campus atmosphere, how could Lao Liao make you write a self-criticism at the flag-raising ceremony? In front of more than two thousand people in the whole school—that's way too humiliating, isn't it?"

"You've got the nerve to say that!" Yue Bin, who had been lying on the grass and howling, immediately sat up and glared angrily at his friend. "Didn't I tell you to stand guard at the door? What kind of lookout were you keeping? Lao Liao entered the broadcast station, and you didn't even know?"

Zhang Yang shrank his neck after being scolded and stammered, "I-I didn't do it on purpose."

"If it wasn't on purpose, then you did it deliberately?" Yue Bin raised a brow and said childishly, "I don't care. You have to take half the responsibility for this. How about this? Didn't Lao Liao tell me to write a self-criticism for Monday? Then you can write that three-thousand-word self-criticism."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, huh?" Yue Bin shot Zhang Yang a glare. "Got a problem with that?"

"It's not that I have a problem. The key is that I can't write a three-thousand-word self-criticism!" Zhang Yang rolled his eyes in despair. "Forget a three-thousand-word self-criticism—I have to force every eight-hundred-word essay in our exams."

"I don't care. You have to shoulder half of this for me." The school heartthrob, who also could not squeeze out three thousand words of self-criticism, very neatly dumped the blame on his friend. Then he grinned foolishly at Lu Chi. "But my self-criticism won't be for nothing. At least everyone believes Lu Chi is innocent now."

The bright sunlight cast a faint golden halo over the boy's smooth hair. The midsummer breeze blew past, making those sleek strands flutter with the wind. Lu Chi could not resist reaching out to touch Yue Bin's hair. Then, under the other boy's suspicious stare, he calmly withdrew his hand and asked with a smile, "How about I write that three-thousand-word self-criticism?"

Before Yue Bin could say anything, the gloomy-looking Zhang Yang's eyes lit up. He immediately pounced on Lu Chi like a bear. "Really? Then I won't hold back—"

"Hold back my ass!" Yue Bin stretched out his long leg and kicked Zhang Yang in the butt. "I haven't even asked you yet. What exactly were you doing while you were supposed to be keeping watch this morning?"

Using the force of Yue Bin's kick, Zhang Yang conveniently threw himself into Lu Chi's arms. Grabbing Lu Chi's collar with both hands, he whimpered, "Lu Chi, look at him! He's so awful! He actually kicked my butt! My pure and spotless butt, he kicked it! Aaaaah..."

"Hey! What do you mean, pure and spotless? Can you stop using idioms randomly? That's disgusting!" Yue Bin grabbed Zhang Yang's hem and pulled him backward. "And don't badmouth me! Otherwise, I'll post your secret-crush diary on the school bulletin board, got it? Get down here—"

Lu Chi: ...Two ridiculously childish brats! And—

Lu Chi rubbed his chin and looked up at the sky. He felt that he would never be able to look at the phrase "pure and spotless" the same way again!

"What are you guys talking about now? It's so lively!" After searching through both the main cafeteria and the smaller one, Qiao Shiyu finally found them on the field. "I've been looking for you forever. I thought you were eating in the cafeteria!"