The brief weekend quickly passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was Monday.
Lu Yao had just entered the classroom with his backpack when he saw Huang Li sitting smugly in his seat, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. Meanwhile, his deskmate Lin Gejie was glaring angrily at Huang Li beside him.
Although the rest of the class appeared to be busy with their own things, all their attention was focused on Lu Yao's side of the room.
Standing before his seat, Lu Yao looked down at Huang Li. His voice was so cold it seemed capable of freezing into ice chips. "Get up."
Huang Li had originally wanted to mock Lu Yao a few times, but when he saw Lu Yao's icy gaze, his body involuntarily shrank back.
Realizing he had actually been afraid of a poor bastard like Lu Yao, Huang Li flew into a rage out of humiliation and gritted his teeth. But when he thought of what awaited Lu Yao shortly, his mood instantly brightened again.
Seeing that Huang Li still had not left his seat, Lu Yao lost patience and directly kicked the desk and chair. "Get lost."
Seeing Lu Yao like this, Huang Li was afraid he would beat him up in the classroom. He hurriedly stood and left Lu Yao's seat, but not before turning around and gloating loudly, "Lu Yao, you're screwed. Principal Chen wants you in his office immediately."
The moment Lu Yao sat down, Lin Gejie spoke anxiously. "Yao, that bastard Huang Li seems to have pulled some strings through his family. Before you got here, he was bragging to the class that Old Chenpi would definitely kick you out of No. 1 High today."
Old Chenpi was the nickname Mountain City No. 1 High School's students had given Principal Chen because they hated him. Though he was called principal, Old Chenpi was actually the vice principal. He disliked being called vice principal, so everyone simply dropped the word "vice." Old Chenpi was notoriously mercenary, and with the principal of No. 1 High currently away on an exchange visit, the school's affairs had been handed over to Old Chenpi. Therefore, Huang Li's words were indeed worrying.
Lu Yao nodded. After putting his backpack into his desk drawer, he stood and left the classroom, heading for Old Chenpi's office.
Huang Li's parents had just brought an injury report for Huang Li to Old Chenpi, claiming that Lu Yao had bullied Huang Li at school. There was clearly no evidence, yet this vice principal had immediately believed them. Once he had made sure Lu Yao would receive the punishment they wanted, Huang Li had his parents leave. Then Old Chenpi told Huang Li to summon Lu Yao to the office.
Since one of his students had been summoned by the vice principal, Lu Yao's homeroom teacher, Old Liu, naturally had to come over and find out what had happened.
When he heard that Director Chen intended to persuade Lu Yao to withdraw from school, Old Liu immediately objected. "Principal Chen, isn't this handling the matter a little too hastily? How can Huang Li's injury report alone prove that Lu Yao was the one who hit him?"
Hearing Old Liu challenge his decision, Old Chenpi shot him a sinister glare. "Teacher Liu, mind who you're talking to. If I say he's being persuaded to withdraw, then he's being persuaded to withdraw. His parents even showed me a video of Lu Yao beating Huang Li. Can that be fake?"
Huang Li had somehow obtained surveillance footage from the first time he fought with Lu Yao. He maliciously edited together clips of himself being beaten. Anyone seeing the video for the first time would think Lu Yao had truly bullied Huang Li at school.
Old Chenpi opened the video on his computer and gestured for Teacher Liu to watch it himself.
After watching the video, Teacher Liu frowned. But thinking of what he knew about Lu Yao, he could not help saying, "Principal Chen, this video alone is still insufficient evidence. Videos can be edited nowadays, and some of these shots don't seem continuous. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to investigate further?"
Could an old hand like Old Chenpi fail to notice something fishy about the video? But when he thought of the benefits he had received from Huang Li's family, he pretended to be blind and acted as though he had noticed nothing.
Hearing Lu Yao's homeroom teacher raise objections, Old Chenpi slammed his hand heavily on the desk and roared furiously, "Teacher Liu, do you think you're so clever? Isn't this evidence already ironclad? Indulging Lu Yao means indulging school bullying! Mountain City No. 1 High School absolutely will not tolerate students like Lu Yao! If you keep blindly defending him, I'll have to start questioning whether you have a problem with your professional ethics!"
Old Liu was stunned after Old Chenpi suddenly pinned a string of accusations on him.
He had merely raised his doubts. How had that become indulging school bullying and having questionable professional ethics? If Old Liu still could not see that something was fishy here, then he truly would have been an idiot.
From the moment Lu Yao entered Old Chenpi's office, he understood that this was a performance arranged by Huang Li and Old Chenpi. They had already decided his outcome for him.
If someone was determined to accuse you, they would never lack an excuse.
He could even roughly guess why Old Chenpi was helping Huang Li.
The current principal was nearing retirement age. Once he retired, someone would inevitably have to take over as principal of Mountain City No. 1 High School. All the teachers and students knew that Old Chenpi had been eyeing the principal's position covetously, while Huang Li bragged all day at school about having a relative who was a high-ranking official in the Education Bureau. If Huang Li's relative put in a good word for him, wouldn't the principal's position be as good as his?
That was why Lu Yao did not bother explaining further. Even if he explained, Old Chenpi, whose ears had been stopped by power and influence, would not listen. Since that was the case, why waste his breath?
Even though Old Liu repeatedly pleaded for Lu Yao, Old Chenpi still insisted on persuading Lu Yao to withdraw.
Before leaving the office, Lu Yao suddenly turned back to look at Old Chenpi and lightly said, "Vice Principal Chen, I wish you a speedy promotion."
Old Chenpi did not react at first, but the more he thought about it, the more sarcastic it sounded. He angrily punched the desk in his office. Had that little brat just mocked him?
After the two left the office, judging from their expressions alone, anyone unaware of the situation might have thought Old Liu was the one being forced to withdraw from school.
Lu Yao knew that Old Liu was truly a responsible and good teacher. Seeing Old Liu's face clouded with worry, he instead comforted him. "Teacher Liu, there are always more solutions than problems. There'll always be a way to solve this."
Lu Yao had no intention of swallowing such a loss for nothing. He simply needed time to gather enough evidence and make sure he could finish them off in one blow.
Seeing that Lu Yao could remain so calm, Old Liu could not help admiring his student's nerves of steel. Old Liu knew about Lu Yao's family circumstances as well. Whether out of appreciation for his talent or pity for him, he could not help worrying more about him.
Old Liu sighed deeply. "Lu Yao, don't worry. Your teacher won't let you be left without school to attend. Mountain City has other good schools besides No. 1 High. Wait at home for my good news." Old Liu planned to set aside his pride and ask friends at other schools whether they could admit Lu Yao. He believed that, given Lu Yao's talent, those old friends would not refuse a student like him.
Looking at Old Liu, Lu Yao actually smiled. "Teacher, thank you."
This was the first time Old Liu had ever seen Lu Yao, the school's famously cold-faced boy, smile. He patted Lu Yao on the shoulder. "Your teacher hasn't done much. But kid, smile more when you can. Don't keep such a straight face at such a young age. You're this handsome, so why don't you smile more? What a waste of that face."
Lu Yao spoke with a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Teacher, even when I don't smile, you say I attract people like a social butterfly. If I smiled more, wouldn't I really live up to that name?"
As soon as Lu Yao said that, Old Liu immediately recalled what had happened before.
Some time ago, Mountain City No. 1 High School had been cracking down hard on puppy love. One day, Old Liu had been chatting with another teacher in the hallway when they brought up Lu Yao.
Thinking about Lu Yao's popularity among the girls, Old Liu could not help sighing and complaining to that teacher, "Our class's Lu Yao has received seven or eight love letters that I've seen with my own eyes. That kid attracts people like a social butterfly."
The instant he finished speaking, Lu Yao suddenly appeared behind them. After greeting Old Liu and the other teacher, he strode away on his long legs and soon disappeared around the end of the corridor.
Old Liu had been startled by Lu Yao's sudden appearance.
Once he was sure Lu Yao was out of sight, he cautiously turned to the teacher beside him. "Do you think he heard what I just said?"
The other teacher shook his head uncertainly. Old Liu secretly observed Lu Yao for several days and decided that he probably had not heard him then, finally putting his mind at ease.
Who would have thought that Lu Yao had really heard it and was even using it to tease him now?
Old Liu smacked Lu Yao on the back irritably. "You're the only one who knows how to talk back. Once you get home, don't overthink things. Just treat it as a little vacation. Leave the school matter to me. Don't worry. I absolutely won't let you go without an education."
When Lu Yao returned to the classroom, the entire class unconsciously turned their eyes toward him. Under everyone's gaze, Lu Yao walked to his seat, took out his backpack, and left the classroom.
Huang Li really was the type to act tough only when he felt safe. When Lu Yao came in, he did not dare utter a word. But once Lu Yao left, he began showing off to his lackeys beside him.
He smiled smugly. "Who told that brat to act so damn cocky all day? What kind of campus heartthrob is he? Isn't he being driven home like a stray dog now?"
The whole class felt disgusted by Huang Li's triumphant, villainous expression, but no one dared say it aloud, afraid of becoming the next Lu Yao.
Lin Gejie followed Lu Yao out of the classroom and looked at him worriedly. "Yao, what are you going to do now?"
Lu Yao remained calm. "When the boat reaches the bridge, it will go straight."
Lu Yao did not think Huang Li's clumsy tactics could truly drive him into a corner.
Lu Yao was highly skilled with computers. And as far as he knew, the authorities were planning to send an inspection team to Mountain City soon to investigate corruption and bribery. That news had not reached Mountain City yet. Otherwise, Huang Li's relative in the Education Bureau probably would not have dared target a minor like Lu Yao at such a sensitive time.
Lin Gejie still wanted to say something, but the class bell suddenly rang.
Seeing Lin Gejie was about to keep following him, Lu Yao turned around and said, "Go back to class."
Lin Gejie had wanted to walk Lu Yao to the school gate, but seeing Lu Yao's disapproving expression, he could only give up.
It took less than one morning for the news of Lu Yao being forced to withdraw by Old Chenpi to spread throughout the whole school.
Although Lu Yao was usually distant at school and seemed close to no one, he was immensely popular among the girls.
Once they heard Lu Yao had been forced to withdraw, the school forum exploded.
"Damn that Old Chenpi! I just finished writing a love letter for Lu Yao last night and was planning to give it to him this morning. Now I can't even deliver it."
"Isn't it ridiculous to say Lu Yao bullied Huang Li? As far as I know, Lu Yao comes to school and does nothing but sleep. He only occasionally talks to his deskmate. I'd find it more believable if you said Huang Li bullied Lu Yao."
"I'm crying. I'm in Lu Yao's class, and every morning before school, I looked forward to seeing that icy heartthrob's face. Now that Lu Yao's gone, I feel like my hatred of school is about to shoot through the roof."
"Reliable sources say Huang Li's family and Old Chenpi seem to have some shady backdoor dealings. As for how shady, you can figure that out yourselves."
"Idiot Huang Li! You can't get girls to like you, so what does that have to do with Lu Yao? Shouldn't you blame your mom for not giving you a better-looking face?"
Yes, somehow the reason Huang Li had clashed with Lu Yao had been exposed. Now everyone knew that Huang Li had flown into a rage out of humiliation after being rejected by a girl because he was ugly.
When Huang Li saw all the forum posts supporting Lu Yao, he was nearly furious enough to explode. But the forum was anonymous, so he could not find out who they were. When he argued with people on the forum, he got thoroughly cursed out instead, which only made him even angrier.
It was not only the students who were surprised. The teachers were also shocked to hear that Lu Yao had been forced to withdraw.
Usually, only exceptionally outstanding students could make every teacher remember them. Yet Lu Yao's scores on every major and minor exam were only average. The reason the teachers remembered him was his unique habit of answering questions.
Lu Yao's exam papers were extremely recognizable because he wrote only the final answer for every question. That was fine for multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, but he did the same for subjective questions that required detailed calculations. The only reason his grades could even be average was because science exams awarded quite a few points for multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.
What shocked the teachers even more was that although Lu Yao gave very little in his answers, every answer was correct. That meant he knew how to solve all those problems; he simply did not want to write out the process.
Naturally, Old Liu and the other subject teachers could not indulge this habit, so they called him into the office privately.
They gave Lu Yao a long lecture.
When Old Liu said that answering like this might make him lose his problem-solving instincts during the college entrance exams, Lu Yao directly replied, "But I did the same thing in middle school."
When Old Liu remembered Lu Yao's entrance exam results—Mountain City's top scorer in the high school entrance examination—he was instantly left speechless.
In order to make Lu Yao change his mind, and hoping to dampen his confidence, Old Liu directly borrowed a difficult mock exam that the senior-year teachers had carefully prepared for their students.
As a result, when they saw Lu Yao's perfect score, the teachers present looked at each other, all at a loss for words.
So did some people score full marks only because full marks were the highest score available?
After that, Old Liu never again criticized Lu Yao over this matter. After all, geniuses having a few peculiarities was understandable. Making him do exam papers where he could see the answer at a glance really was making things difficult for him.
Considering that if this got out, other students in their impulsive and easily influenced teenage years might imitate Lu Yao's answering habits, the teachers tacitly agreed not to mention the matter to anyone.
Lu Yao's situation should originally have been reported to the principal by Old Liu. But at the time, Old Liu had been so overwhelmed by preparations for the school sports meet that he could barely spare a moment. Once the sports meet was over, he thought he had already reported the matter to the principal, so he kept forgetting about it until now.