Chapter 30

Thursday finally arrived—the day of the monthly exam.

The exam seating was arranged according to the previous monthly exam results.

Since Lu Yao and Xia Yue had not taken any previous monthly exams, they were assigned to the last exam room. As for Lu Qi and Ye Muqing, they had secured seats in the last exam room purely through their "ability."

The moment Lu Yao entered the exam room, he saw Lu Qi sitting at his desk, muttering as he memorized something.

His studious appearance was completely out of place amid the laid-back atmosphere of the last exam room.

The invigilator quickly handed out the test papers.

After taking his paper and giving it a cursory glance, Lu Yao picked up his pen and began writing rapidly.

Once he had finished answering the paper, he looked toward the front-right of the room. Lu Qi was scratching at his head, looking miserable and as if he were facing a mortal enemy.

A faint smile appeared in Lu Yao's eyes. He covered his test paper and lay down on his desk to rest with his eyes closed.

The invigilator ignored him. After all, in this last exam room, plenty of students were sleeping with their heads on their desks just like Lu Yao.

The two-day monthly exam soon came to an end.

The moment the final subject ended and he handed in his answer sheet, Lu Qi rushed over to Lu Yao.

Pretending to ask casually, he said, "How did you do this time?"

Lu Yao replied indifferently, "Not bad."

Lu Qi immediately became anxious.

"What do you mean, not bad?"

Seeing how nervous he looked, Lu Yao raised his eyes and curled his lips with interest.

"Not bad means I did pretty well."

Hearing that answer, Lu Qi's heart instantly leaped into his throat.

Ye Muqing had happened to sit right behind Lu Yao during the exam. Seeing Lu Qi so tense, he moved over to Lu Qi after Lu Yao had walked away.

"Brother Qi, don't worry. However long I slept during the exam, Lu Yao slept for just as long. When I woke up, he was still asleep. When I went to sleep, he was still asleep too. I barely saw him pick up his pen."

Lu Qi looked at Ye Muqing doubtfully. "Is that true?"

Ye Muqing nodded firmly. "Relax. I don't think he answered many questions at all."

The teachers graded the papers quickly, finishing all the marking over the weekend.

Near the end of Monday morning's reading class, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom holding the total score rankings.

"Students, the total scores for this monthly exam are out. I'll post the rankings on the bulletin board, so you can check them yourselves later. Oh, and I'd like to praise Lu Qi in advance. His progress this time has been absolutely tremendous. I'll go over the results in more detail during this afternoon's class meeting."

The entire class was stunned to hear the homeroom teacher praise Lu Qi by name—and praise his grades, no less. Had the sun risen in the west today?!

Ye Muqing bumped Lu Qi's arm. "Brother Qi, even the homeroom teacher praised you. You can relax now, right?"

Lu Qi could not help showing a relieved, smug smile.

As soon as class ended, Lu Qi charged to the bulletin board first.

Following the rankings down with his fingertip, he finally found his name around the middle-lower section.

He clenched his fist excitedly. He had won!

Lu Yao would have no choice but to admit defeat now. Thinking about how Lu Yao would have to obediently call him brother from now on, convinced and willing, and could no longer call him by name directly, Lu Qi felt absolutely amazing!

Just as Lu Qi was about to turn around and make Lu Yao fulfill their bet, he caught sight of the name directly below his own. When he saw that person's score, he froze on the spot.

It was like a bolt from the blue!

His eyes widened. After staring at it closely over and over again in disbelief, he even rubbed his eyes before looking one last time!

Seeing Lu Qi spend so long looking at his score, Ye Muqing walked over.

"Isn't your score right here? Why are you looking at it for so..."

Before Ye Muqing could finish, he saw the name below Lu Qi's. Then, looking at the total score, he exclaimed in shock, "The same score?!"

With Ye Muqing's words, Lu Qi's heart seemed to shatter into pieces.

Seeing Lu Qi return looking dejected, then hearing Ye Muqing's explanation, Lu Yao raised an eyebrow in rare irritation and complained speechlessly, "Are you an idiot?"

Lu Qi retorted indignantly, "Hey, Lu Yao, didn't you get the same score as me? What right do you have to call me an idiot?"

Forget it. Going from second-to-last to twentieth-to-last was proof that Lu Qi had genuinely worked hard. Lu Yao could only blame himself for having overestimated Lu Qi's ability before.

The test papers for each subject were soon handed back.

Ever since learning his score, Lu Qi had been lying on his desk, grumbling resentfully to himself.

"Damn it! If I'd just gotten one more question right. One more point, just one point would've been enough!"

You Yu took his math paper from a classmate. Seeing that he had actually gotten the first fill-in-the-blank question wrong, he muttered in confusion, "Wasn't the answer to the first blank zero? I remember calculating it over and over."

Hearing that, Lu Yao glanced at his own paper. It was nearly blank, but almost every question he had answered was correct—except for that fill-in-the-blank question.

Lu Yao turned around and knocked on Lu Qi's desk. "Let me see your math paper."

Lu Qi listlessly stuffed his paper over. Lu Yao took it, glanced at it, and frowned.

After returning the math paper to Lu Qi, Lu Yao stood up and left the classroom.

During math class, their homeroom teacher, Mr. Tang, walked to the podium with the papers in hand. He cleared his throat and said, "Students, there was a printing error in the answer key during grading. The actual correct answer to the first fill-in-the-blank question was zero, not ten. Those whose answers were marked wrong, come report it to me after class, and I'll add the points back."

Lu Qi lay on his desk with a lifeless expression, miserably immersed in his own world. Fate was always playing tricks on people.

Hearing the homeroom teacher's words, Ye Muqing nudged Lu Qi. "Brother Qi, why don't you check whether your paper was marked wrong too?"

Without much hope, Lu Qi casually handed his paper to Ye Muqing. "Look for yourself."

Ye Muqing took the paper and immediately grabbed Lu Qi's hand excitedly. "B-Brother Qi, it really was marked wrong!"

Lu Qi shot upright, instantly shaking off his previous listlessness. Surprise burst into his eyes. "Really? It was actually marked wrong?!"

Lu Qi suddenly slapped his forehead. "I remember now! I couldn't solve that question before, so I randomly guessed zero! I actually guessed it right!"

At that moment, You Yu suddenly turned around. "Brother Qi, was yours marked wrong too, like mine?"

Lu Qi hesitated. "Too?"

You Yu nodded. "Yeah, lots of people's were marked wrong."

Lu Qi and Ye Muqing exchanged shocked looks. Wait, could Lu Yao's have been marked wrong too?

Lu Qi hurriedly tapped Lu Yao, who was sitting in front of him.

When Lu Yao turned around, Lu Qi clenched the hand hidden beneath his desk nervously and asked tentatively, "Lu Yao, was your first fill-in-the-blank question marked wrong too?"

Lu Yao looked perfectly calm. "I didn't answer that question."

The moment Lu Yao finished speaking, Lu Qi excitedly high-fived Ye Muqing.

Holding his math paper, Lu Qi smugly waved it in front of Lu Yao. "Look, do you see this zero? It's worth four points. I got four more points than you."

Lu Yao suddenly regretted it a little.

Lu Qi laughed smugly. "Hahaha, come on. The bet officially starts being fulfilled from now on. You agreed to this before—whoever goes back on it is a puppy."

Seeing Lu Qi looking so pleased with himself, Lu Yao pushed his tongue against his cheek in displeasure.

Deliberately lowering his voice, he said in a deep tone, "Brother."

Hearing Lu Yao call him that again at last, Lu Qi instantly felt refreshed in both body and mind. He let out a satisfied sigh. "My hard work wasn't for nothing after all."

Lu Qi looked up at Lu Yao and emphasized smugly, "From now on, whenever you see me, you have to call me brother."

Lu Yao raised his brows slightly, and the corners of his lips slowly lifted. "In your dreams! Our bet was that if you won, I'd call you brother once. I already called you that just now. I've fulfilled the bet."

Lu Qi was so furious that he nearly jumped up. "Lu Yao, you're way too sly!"

Lu Yao curled his lips. "All's fair in war. What matters is that it works."

Lu Qi suddenly pulled out his phone from beneath his desk and smugly waved it in front of Lu Yao.

"Hmph, I'll give those words right back to you. Good thing I was prepared—I set up a recording ages ago."

Lu Yao: "..."

Don't ask. He regretted it just a tiny, tiny bit!