Chain Reaction

"Let me see."

Zhao Afei pulled out a double-layer butter-and-cheese bun and passed it to Xu Yuan under the desk. Then he picked up Xu Yuan's little figurine and studied the runes on it.

Xu Yuan leaned over the desk and took big bites of the bun.

By the time class ended, he had finished the bun, eaten five xiaolongbao and two eggs, and drunk a bottle of milk.

Afei really was a good friend.

When the break came, nobody got to rest.

Their homeroom teacher stepped up to the podium to announce the Monthly Exam results!

"Overall, our class did about average this time, on par with the last Monthly Exam."

"But two students in our class made remarkable progress."

"They are Xu Yuan and Zhao Afei."

"Let's give them a round of applause."

A sparse scattering of applause followed.

Wen Xiaoning, the class monitor, turned around and gave Xu Yuan a plaintive look.

Xu Yuan had seen that look plenty of times.

It meant nothing more than, Let me join your team.

But he already had a regular squad. He couldn't just add people on a whim.

Xu Yuan kept his face tilted toward the blackboard and pretended not to see.

The homeroom teacher went on praising the pair's team battle.

Little by little,

the other students turned to look at them.

Zhao Afei sat in the front row, shifting uneasily in his seat, looking rather uncomfortable.

Xu Yuan showed no reaction at all.

"I'm handing back the written papers now. Look over the questions you got wrong. Your subject teachers will come in one after another to explain them."

"If you did well, don't get arrogant. If you didn't, don't lose heart."

"Listen carefully and take good notes!"

"You can only climb a great peak one step